Code of the Dead
by RiBuscus
Summary: After activating several Towers, XANA launches an attack like none other, unleashing an extremely deadly virus across the entire globe. The Lyoko Warriors are aware of the situation, but they have no idea what happens after the infected die. First couple of chapters are short, but they get much longer.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

"Hey, guys!" said Yumi, as she strolled to the bench where they usually sat. The others had already been released from class, but Yumi had stayed behind to receive some make-up work.

"Hi, Yumi. Where were you yesterday?" Jeremy asked. Yumi wasn't absent very often, and if she was, it was usually something serious.

"My grandfather got sick last week, and its only getting worse. My family went to check on him, and I figured I should, as well." Yumi stated. Jeremy gave a brief nod of understanding, and went back to his work. He still had not decoded the antivirus, and he was beginning to get worried. Although, more and more Towers were being activated, so he assumed that XANA was aware that he was getting close to cracking the code.

"Any luck with the Antivirus yet, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked. Jeremy usually didn't fill them in on his work, thinking that they wouldn't comprehend it.

"Well, as you know, XANA has been activating a lot of Towers lately, so I assume that he knows I'm getting close." the blonde said. A smirk appeared on his face as Aelita beamed with excitement.

Aelita laid her head on Jeremy's shoulder, "Every time you think about it…hurry." She raised her head, kissing the blonde genius on the cheek, before returning her head to his shoulder. Jeremy looked down at his computer, in an effort to conceal his blush.

Aelita had come out of her shell recently, confessing that she cared for Jeremy and being more open about it. The gang was excited for her, and backed her up every step of the way. One svelte teen, however, hadn't seemed as happy ever since.

"Odd, I'm going to go get something to eat at that new buffet down the street, you want to come?" Ulrich asked. It seemed as if he were the only one who had noticed Odd's depression.

"Yeah, I guess. Let me go plug my phone up real quick. The battery is going dead." Odd said, rising from the bench. As Odd walked into the dorm building, he noticed something strange about a light socket near the entrance.

"Probably just a blown bulb." he said, ignoring it and proceeding on his way. He connected his phone with the charger and left the room.

_(Meanwhile...)_

"What the…?" Jeremy mumbled, as the Super Scan showed multiple windows on his computer, each displaying an activated tower.

"One, two, three…Jeremy, that can't be right…" Aelita spoke, just as confused as Jeremy.

"Let's go to the factory," Yumi said, "Someone text Odd and tell him."

"I hope he got that before he left his phone in the dorm…" Ulrich mumbled.

**Ok, there you have it! :D This is just a short little something to let anyone who reads this know what the fic is about. I'm actually going to post a full length chapter in a few days…maybe a week xD Review and give me ideas! It would be helpful :D**


	2. The Beginning of the End

**Alright, well here goes nothing xD This will be the first REAL chapter of Code of the Dead!**

**Disclaimer: I, or anyone else on , do not own or have any rights what so ever to Code Lyoko. That all goes to Moonscoop and Canal J.**

**Oh, and a little bit of news in case you didn't already know! There is a trailer on Youtube for Code Lyoko Evolution! It was released by the people who are filming it, so it obviously isn't fake :D It's called **_**Teaser Code Lyoko Evolution #1 – CASTING**_**.**

"Where'd they go?" Odd mumbled, confused at how his friends seemingly vanished. He paced to the bench, only to find no trace of a note

"_They must have gone to get some food already_…,_"_ Odd thought. He turned away from the bench, heading towards the front gate when something caught his eye. Principal Delmas was walking in his direction, but he looked…sickly.

"Mr. Delmas, are you ok?" Odd asked, approaching him. Mr. Delmas groaned in response, "Maybe you should come with me to Yolanda, huh?"

Suddenly, the deathly pale man sprang, landing on top of the teenage boy, growling and snarling at him. Odd paused for a brief moment, noticing the eye of XANA in his principal's eyes. Realizing that this is why his friends were not at the bench, he used all of his might to kick Mr. Delmas off of him, expecting it to knock him cold, but he failed. Odd ran as fast as his legs would allow him, but the possessed Mr. Delmas was slightly faster. Odd's face lit up as an idea came to him. As he was exiting the campus, he shut the large gates behind him, just in time for Mr. Delmas to slam into the railings.

"Now that'll teach you to mess with a Della Robia!" he exclaimed as he continued to sprint to the factory. As he ran through the city, he noticed that many of the citizens around him had been possessed as well.

"_I didn't think XANA could possess more than one person…"_ The thought quickly escaped his mind as he saw the old Renault Factory come into sight.

_(Meanwhile)_

Jeremy sat down at the computer chair, "Alright, one of the Towers is north northwest of your position, about two-hundred meters.

"Yeah Jeremy, we see it. And we also see a welcoming committee," Ulrich paused, "…a big one."

In the distance there were ten hornets, six crabs, eight kankralats, and two tarantulas.

"The Marabounta would be extremely useful right about now!" Yumi yelled, dodging multiple lasers. As she was cartwheeling towards one of the crabs, a hornet flew from her left, blasting her shoulder.

"Yumi, you're down to sixty life points!" Jeremy said into the headset. He wiped the sweat his brow, then looked up to see Odd's face reflecting off of the monitor.

"Dude, half of the city is possessed! I didn't even know XANA could do that!" Odd exclaimed, breathing heavily.

"They aren't possessed. I think that XANA has sent out some sort of virus that's infecting everyone," Jeremy paused, "Get to the scanners, Odd. The others need some back up."

"Understood, chief!" Odd playfully saluted, marching to the scanner room.

Jeremy raised the mic back up to his mouth, "I'm sending Odd in. Hopefully he can provide cover fire."

"Transfer: Odd. Scanner: Odd. Virtualization!" Jeremy paused, watching Odd's body appear on his screen, "I'm sending you the Overboard. Get to the others and protect Aelita!"

"I'm on it!" Odd said as he swooped down on the Overboard, taking out four crabs and two hornets on his way down.

Ulrich had begun a faceoff between him and the two tarantulas. As they began firing a barrage of lasers in his direction, he jumped. He pointed his katana at the eye of the tarantula on the right.

"Impact!" Ulrich shoved the blade through its eye, watching as the small amount of light escaped from within the monster. He pulled the katana out and leapt off, watching as the abomination exploded.

Yumi saw that there was a straight shot through the monsters going directly to the Tower.

"Aelita, run at me! I'll give you a boost!" Yumi yelled. Aelita gave her a puzzled look, but obeyed, nonetheless. She ran towards Yumi in a full sprint, and just as she thought she was going to hit her, she flew into the air, landing directly in front of the Tower. Just before entering, she looked back to see Yumi being devirtualized, and Odd blasting the remaining monsters.

"Tower deactivated."

-m-

"After the first Tower was deactivated, it seems as if the remaining Towers deactivated as well." Jeremy said, his eyes glued to the monitor, "but there's one slight problem."

"What's wrong?" Aelita asked.

"The virus that Odd told me about that was infecting the entire city…it didn't stop…" Jeremy sighed.

"So you're telling me that those XANA-mified freaks out there are still running rampant?" Odd exclaimed, his eyes bulging with fear.

"That's the thing. They aren't possessed, the never were. XANA seems to have created himself a sort of germ, that turns you into…that!" Jeremy said, pointing to his monitor that was showing security footage of an infected business man consuming a small boy.

Aelita and Yumi stared at the footage, horrified at what they were seeing, "I can't believe this…" Yumi muttered.

"Jeremy, do you think those people are…" Ulrich gulped before he spoke again, "…zombies?"

Yumi smacked him; "This isn't the time for jokes, Ulrich!" she looked at Jeremy, realizing that Ulrich wasn't joking.

"He's right Yumi…those people aren't alive anymore. A Return Trip won't bring back the dead…" Jeremy said, looking more afraid than he did before, "If we did do a Return Trip, all it would do is make XANA stronger, and we'd still have corpses walking the streets…" The gang looked at each other, suddenly realizing that XANA had finally gotten what he wanted. The Apocalypse.

**Did you like it? :D Leave a review letting me know how to improve, or ideas! Flames are also accepted.**


	3. Supplies

**Why, hello there! :D The first chapter of this fic actually went pretty well according to the Traffic, but yet I have NO REVIEWS. Come on guys, it takes like…two minutes xD**

**Anyway, I'm going to try to update this story as frequently as possible, but that speed will probably decrease when school starts. So I will try to put out as many chapters as possible before then! So without further ado, Chapter Three!**

**Supplies**

The Lyoko Warriors watched in horror as Jeremy flipped through various samples of security footage, each showing different scenarios of the infected.

"Jeremy, that man just ate his own son! I never signed up for this!" Aelita exclaimed. She had been hyperventilating ever so slightly for the past hour.

"Calm dow-" Jeremy tried, but was cut off by Yumi.

"Calm down? How is someone supposed to remain calm when fucking corpses are walking around eating people?" Yumi yelled. Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremy had already accepted that there wasn't an easy way around this, and that the best course of action would be to stay as calm as possible to conserve energy. The women of the group, however, had never watched zombie movies.

Ulrich walked behind Yumi, putting his arms around her waist. She jumped in shock, but then melted into his grasp, "The best thing to do right now would be to stay calm." he paused then looked towards Jeremy, "If I know anything about a Zombie Apocalypse, it would be that we need to find four things: shelter, food, weapons, and medicine."

Odd sprang up, "Jeremy could a zombie get into the factory?"

"Not without dying, no. Assuming that it wouldn't know to grab a rope and slide down, it would just fall 40 feet to its death." Jeremy said, realizing what Odd was doing.

"Alright, so the factory would be a pretty good safe house. And that way if XANA attacks, we won't be too far away." Odd gathered his thoughts for a moment, "Yumi, doesn't your dad like to hunt?"

"Oh my God…" Odd cringed at her reaction, realizing he hit a nerve, "My dad! I've got to go see if he's alright!" Yumi struggled to get out of Ulrich's grip, but failed. Her energy soon died down, and Ulrich decided to speak.

"Yumi…your dad isn't your dad anymore…" Ulrich sighed, looking at the ground. Yumi gave in, falling into Ulrich's grasp once more. She faced the ground, letting her hair fall over her eyes.

"Yumi, stay with me here." Odd pleaded, seeing that she was on the verge of tears, "He has weapons, right?"

Yumi stood up and tried to compose herself, "Yeah *sniffle* I um…I think he bought a permit a few years ago." Odd, realizing he got his answer, left Yumi alone. Yumi turned to Ulrich as he pulled her into a hug.

"Ok…Jeremy, you're the smart one here, right? What kind of antibiotics would we need if we did happen to get bitten? Or if a rusty nail cut us?" Odd asked.

"We'd need some Augmentin, Peroxide, some Tetanus vaccines, and some anti-inflammatories." Jeremy paused, a look of realization about his face, "The problem is that we'd have to get into the school or go to the Center for Disease Control, and from what the security footage has told us…that might not be possible."

Aelita quietly spoke, "What if we went at night? Or if we stayed on the rooftops?" Odd's face lit up.

"Aelita, you're a genius! Zombies can't climb, and considering their eyes are the same as ours, they won't be able to see as well at night!" Odd grasped her shoulders and grinned at her.

"Alright, but now comes the hard part," Ulrich mumbled, "Actually doing it."

_**(Later)**_

As night plummeted upon the factory, the Lyoko Warriors realized that they needed the supplies, and fast. It being mid Fall, the weather drastically dropped at night, leaving the teens shivering in the dark factory.

"Alright, that's it! I'm cold, I'm hungry, and I'm tired!" Odd exclaimed. The rest of the gang stood up from their positions around the Super Computer.

"For once, I agree with Odd. We need the supplies from the school _now, _or else we're going to freeze." Ulrich said, "There's no way we'll make it to Yumi's house in this weather, but we can get to the school through the sewers. The problem is that there's probably hundreds of infected in that building, so we're going to need some sort of weapon."

Ulrich had assumed the responsibility of leading the group. Yumi and Odd were strong enough to do it, but with Yumi's grief and Odd's hunger, there was no way they could keep their heads straight.

Yumi walked around the factory to a pile of rubble, "There's some steel pipes over here, if you think that would work." Ulrich walked the pile, a grin plastered on his face. He picked one up, swung it a few times, and then spoke.

"Yeah…these will do just fine." The rest of the gang walked over to the pile. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi all grabbed medium length rods that we're rather thick, while Jeremy and Aelita grabbed dagger sized rods.

Aelita looked at Ulrich, who had a strange look on his face, "What? I'm not used to a katana like you are, Ulrich." Aelita said with a smile. It was the first time she had smiled since they were materialized a few hours before. Ulrich gave her a thumbs up, before turning towards the rope. Using the muscle in his arms, he flung himself up the rope about three feet, before climbing the rest of the way up.

"No infected in sight…" he mumbled, "Alright guys, I think it's safe!"

Jeremy climbed up the latter, then Odd, then Aelita. Odd crouched to his knees, helping Aelita to get on the platform. She pulled herself up; only to realize she was mere inches from Odd's face. Odd blushed and turned away. Luckily, no one saw them.

The gang ran across the bridge and slid into the manhole, hoping that the infected hadn't noticed them.

**I kind of feel like this chapter was kind of rushed, but there's no way I'm redoing all of that. Anyway, the time setting is during the second season. So unless I have Jeremy invent it in this story, they won't be wearing their Lyoko attire outside of Lyoko. That would be WAY too easy for them! **

**Read and Review, pretty please. **


	4. Previews

**Welcome back to Code of the Dead! Thank you ****Ares-A ****and some guy who was too lazy to log in (or doesn't have an account) for those inspirational reviews :D I was working when my phone rang…it made my day so much better :D**

**Ok, so I need a week, maybe a week and a half, to write a few chapters. That way I don't get behind and stuff. So this chapter is going to be a bunch of sneak previews of what's to come. Please don't be mad xD**

**Note: These may change, be removed, or be in different orders as I see fit xD**

-M-

"Thanks for the assist back there," the blonde girl said, "By the way, my name's Elise."

-M-

Ulrich looked around, lazily. He tried to stand, only to have an excruciating pain seep through his shin. He turned his head to the left, seeing Yumi who was standing among several dead infected.

"Ulrich are you alright? You blacked out after you fell." Yumi said, checking around her for more infected, before tending to Ulrich. Her knee hit his leg as she crouched down, making him grown in pain.

"Ah! Yumi, I think it's broken." he paused, "Where are the others?" Suddenly he got his answer as a white bubble engulfed them.

-M-

As the group of six entered Paris, they realized that things were much worse than they expected. Several buildings had burnt down, and the Eiffel Tower no longer stood.

"Come on guys, he's not going to last much longer without that medicine. How long before he turns, Jeremy?" Ulrich said.

"We have a few hours before the complete transformation."

-M-

"You're such a dick, Jeremy! She's not your property, you know that? If I want to get her something for Valentine's Day, then I will!"

-M-

"I think it's time we told them about the Super Computer." Yumi said, realizing that they were in dire need of back up. Jeremy's voice rang from the digital sky.

"I'll go get them." he said, before putting the ear piece down.

-m-

**Hopefully these will get you pumped for what's to come :D Review or PM me if you have any ideas for me!**


	5. The School: Part 1

**I wanted to wait until next week to get this out, but the suspense was killing me :D So here is chapter four xD**

**The School**

The gang walked through the sewers in silence. Odd, being the zombie horror fan he was, knew that if they made noise they would attract the infected. Instead, they would text each other if they needed to talk.

**Ulrich:** _Dude, what if this doesn't work?_

**Odd:** _It will man._

**Ulrich:** _Still, I'd like to know the worst case scenario._

**Odd:** _Worst case scenario, we get eaten alive by zombies._

**Ulrich:** _And the best case?_

**Odd:** _We find survivors, kill zombies, get supplies, and get out without a scratch. But, the worst case is more likely to happen. All I know is that I'm starving, and I don't want to die on an empty stomach xD_

Ulrich slipped his phone his pocket, amazed at how Odd could be thinking about food at a time like this. Odd's mind, however, wasn't just on his immense hunger. It was also drifting into the pink haired girl who walked in front of him. Odd had, since the day they met, had a small crush on her. But as of a few months ago, his feelings for her had skyrocketed. Whether it was from her new attire, which consisted of longer hair that reached a few inches past her shoulder, a tight pink jacket with a black shirt underneath, bright blue skinny jeans, and pink Converses, or from how her form had matured greatly over the last year, or a combination of both, he knew there was something special about her.

As the gang continued to walk, Odd noticed that Aelita began to violently shiver. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted her.

**Odd:** _You want my jacket?_

**Aelita:** _No, I'm fine. Promise._

Odd leaned towards her ear and whispered, "You aren't going to fool me that easily." He pulled his jacket off and put it on her shoulders. Aelita have him a look and tried to give it back. Odd simply shook his head before smirking.

Aelita blushed ever so slightly, "Thank you." Odd nodded then pointed at the ladder nearby.

Ulrich spoke, "I haven't seen any infected in the sewers, so I guess its okay to talk quietly." He grabbed the ladder and began to climb up. He slid the cover over so that he could see his immediate surroundings.

He looked around then pulled the cover back over the sewer entrance, "Alright, I see two Infected to the south. They shouldn't be too hard to take out." Ulrich said. The others nodded, and Ulrich climbed up the ladder once more, helping the others up as they climbed. Surprisingly, the two Infected didn't seem to notice them.

"Maybe their ears rotted off." Odd grinned, receiving a chuckle from Ulrich and Yumi. Their destructive nature made them think brutal jokes were funny.

"Yeah, maybe. Let's just take them out before they realize we're here." Yumi said, before tiptoeing in the Infected's direction with Ulrich beside her. They slashed through the two zombies' heads before gently laying them down.

"Come on, their bodies are bound to draw attention." Ulrich said. He motioned for them to move into the gymnasium. He quietly opened the door.

"I don't see any in there..." Aelita said. Ulrich nodded and entered the building.

**-COTD-**

As the Lyoko Warriors crept through the dangerous school, they were forced to take out many of their old friends. William, Emilie, Jim, Sissy, and Mr. Delmas were just a few of the scores of the Infected that now lay lifeless.

"I can't believe it…" Aelita managed to say, tears forming in her eyes, "I…I killed Jim and, and Kylie…" she sank to the floor and curled into a ball.

Jeremy leaned down to her, "Aelita, you need to understand that the Jim you once knew and the infected Jim aren't the same people. Jim was gone before we got here…" he leaned towards her, placing a kiss on her forehead, "Come on…we need to get the supplies."

Odd was jealous of Jeremy, but at the same time, he was happy that Aelita found someone who cares for her. Jeremy had hit puberty a few months back and he was already forming muscles. He was now more than capable to fight, which proved to be useful for Aelita. Still, he wished for Aelita to be his.

Odd quickly brushed the thought out of his mind and focused on the task at hand, which was stuffing himself. Yumi and Aelita, having taken a cooking class together last semester, cooked a meal in the cafeteria.

"Man, Yumi, you really know how to cook!" Odd said with his mouth full of waffles. She had even made an imprint of the Eye of XANA into it.

"Thanks." she mumbled, wiping Odd's saliva off of her face.

"I hate to ruin your meal, but we need to talk about the pressing matters at hand." Jeremy said, standing from his seat to assume the privilege of speaking. The gang sat their forks down to listen.

"Alright, so we have food now, but how are we going to transport it to the factory?" Jeremy said. Ulrich raised his hand, "You've got an idea, Ulrich?"

"Maybe," he paused for a moment, "When I was walking through the gymnasium, I saw Jim's truck just outside. If we can get it running, we could put the food in it, safely transporting it to the factory."

Odd stood up, "No, no, that would lead the Infected right to us. They'd get us when we were trying to unload it."

Yumi stood, "There's a path leading straight to the factory though the woods. There won't be as many Infected through the forest."

Seeing that no one had any objection, Jeremy spoke, "So it's settled. We'll use Jim's truck to haul the food to the factory." The group nodded in agreement, and then continued their meal.

**-COTD-**

The gang traveled through the dorm building. Aelita had mentioned that blankets and pillows would be a necessity, and the others agreed. The dorm building's front door had been bashed in, yet there weren't any infected inside.

Odd noticed a figure in the distance, "Milly? Is that you?"

"Odd, don't come any closer!" Milly screamed.

"What? Why?" Ulrich asked.

"I…Tamiya bit me. I don't know much about zombies, but I know that once you're bitten…there's no going back…" Milly had tears streaming down her cheeks.

Odd turned to the rest of the group, "What do we do? I don't want to kill her or anything, but…I don't want her to turn either." Odd looked at the ground.

Ulrich looked around at the group, "Odd's right…we can't let her turn…"

Yumi looked at them in disgust, "She's a human being! You can't just murder her!"

"Yeah, for now, but in a few minutes she's going to be a walking corpse." Jeremy said, "I don't like it, in fact I hate it, but I'm sure it's the right thing to do. You know…prevent the inevitable."

Milly spoke up, "Jeremy is right…I don't want to be what Tamiya is…" she paused, "Ulrich…I want you to do it."

Ulrich looked at her in shock. Having to devirtualize a friend before they fell into the digital sea was one thing, but killing an innocent child because she's infected…that's a completely different story.

"I…I don't know if I can do that, Milly."

"Please…I don't have much time…" Milly was being incredibly brave in this situation.

Ulrich breathed heavily, before stepping closer to her. Milly nodded at him and gave him a smile of encouragement. Ulrich's mind was going haywire. He'd always thought that a zombie apocalypse would be all fun and games, but now he had to murder a thirteen year old girl. A tear escaped from his eye.

"I'll see again eventually. I promise." He said. Milly nodded before lying down, her face against the floor. Ulrich raised the metal pipe, letting it rest slightly above his head. He turned to the group, only to realize that they were looking in the opposite direction. Aelita was sobbing violently while Yumi had her arm around her. Odd, however, was looking straight at the scene.

Ulrich, with all of his might, forced the pipe to come down. The pipe collided with her skull with immense force. A loud crack rang through the halls, a signal that it had been finished. The gang jumped at the sound with the realization they had just killed a young girl crashing upon them.

Ulrich let the pipe drop to his side, before walking up the stairs behind the group, "Come on, we need to get those blankets."

The gang walked behind him in silence.


	6. The School: Part 2 The Forest

**So I've decided that whenever I find any news about Code Lyoko: Evolution, I'm going to post it along with my fanfic. So here's some news I've gathered (that I can actually remember).**

**-Lyoko is in 3D and the real world is in Live-Action.**

**-William will not be under XANA's control, but he will have a very dark personality due to his prolonged possession. The gang does learn to trust him eventually, though.**

**-The new enemies are called Ninjas.**

**-Alan Meyer is the man who resurrected XANA.**

**-It is possible that the actress who is portraying Aelita is a homosexual. A quote I found said something like this, "The actress is portrayed straight as Aelita, despite some complications." That could also mean that they had trouble dying her hair pink, but that she is portrayed 'straight forward' as Aelita. We won't know until they release the actress' true name.**

**-"In the real world, Odd's hair is still gelled, but is not in a spike." This is simply because the actor's hair is not long enough and that is would require a great amount of gel xD**

**-The landscape of Lyoko has been changed a little, as well as the Super Computer. The towers are now black with red stripes on the corners, along with the Eye of XANA on the side.**

**-There is a new sector (the Cortex), which Meyer created, that houses XANA until he regains his strength.**

**-And yes, the actress who portrays Yumi is, in fact, Japanese! :D And supposedly, she's extremely attractive, as well. xD**

**The Forest**

"Now all we need is some cologne for Odd's feet!" Ulrich laughed, pointing at the purple clad teen.

"Yeah, and we need Ulrich's diary, too!" Odd mocked back.

"Way ahead of you, good buddy." Ulrich said while revealing his diary from his back pocket. Odd scowled at him, before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Well, it's good to see that you two are in a good mood." Yumi smiled at the two boys, "Now get up, we've got supplies to transport."

The gang had decided that Ulrich should drive through the woods. Being from Germany, he grew up on a farm, where he learned to drive through dense pine forests at a young age. He and Yumi were in the front seats, while Jeremy, Aelita, and Odd were in the back seats.

"Let's hope you know how to hot wire a truck." Odd taunted. Ulrich had learned this during his farming days, as well. Ulrich stripped the rubber coating from the wires, before gently pressing them together. The vehicle pattered for a few seconds before springing to life as fumes found their way from the exhaust.

Ulrich turned to face Odd, "You were saying?" Odd stuck his tongue out at him, and then smiled.

**-COTD-**

The forest was quiet, a little too quiet. It was the middle of the night, yet there were no crickets chirping. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of leaves under the extended cab truck.

"It's too freakin' cramped in here." Odd mumbled. He opened a window, letting his hair whip through the light breeze outside, "That's better."

Aelita gazed at his hair, "What are you going to do now that you can't use some gel to spike your hair?"

Odd started to answer, but Ulrich cut him off, "_Some_ gel? More like three or four _bottles_!"

Odd stuck his head back in through the window, "Gorgeous hair such as mine takes effort, unlike you with your emo style."

"Just because a few strands cover my eye doesn't mean I'm emo."

"Uh huh!"

"Nu uh!"

Yumi turned the Aelita and Jeremy, "How could they be fighting about hair in a time like this?"

Aelita rolled her eyes before grabbing Jeremy's hand, "They're boys, Yumi. One _always _has to be better than the other."

Odd noticed her holding Jeremy's hand, "Yeah, and that guy is me!"

The group thought that he was referring to the argument between him and Ulrich, but it was more than that. No one except Ulrich actually knew about his love for Aelita. Odd's thoughts were cut short by a familiar growling sound

"Put your seatbelts on, we've got company!" Ulrich screamed, flooring the gas pedal.

"I thought you said there wouldn't be any zombies?" Odd said while rolling up his window. As the window shut, an unlucky Infected made an attempt to grab Odd. Before it was able to pull its arm out, the window shut, and the severed arm landed in Odd's lap.

"Holy shit!" Odd screamed.

"Odd, don't damage it!" Jeremy yelled, "I can study that!"

Odd, reluctantly, grabbed a plastic bag Jim had left in the floor and stuffed the arm inside it. He hastily shoved the bag to the floorboard, then shakily grabbed Aelita's arm and cuddled up to her.

"I don't…wanna see a zombie…ever again." He said, while rocking back in forth.

Aelita put her arm around his shoulders, "Don't worry, you'll get your revenge." She smiled down at him. He let go of her arm and composed himself.

Before Odd's could completely regain himself, the Infected whom had just lost an arm came back for revenge. With all of its might, it struck the window.

"Ahhh!" was all Odd managed to scream before the Infected dragged him out of the vehicle.

"Odd!" Aelita grabbed the metal pipe that was sitting on her lap and charged out of the truck, "Odd, grab my hand!"

Odd made an effort to grab at her, but the Infected continued to drag him deeper into the forest. With his last bit of energy, he whipped around and kicked. He opened his eyes in shock as he felt a pain like no other surge through his ankle. As his adrenaline began to seep through his veins, he kicked once more. Feeling his shoe collide with the Infected's body, he swiftly immerged from the ground, shoving Aelita back into the truck.

He shut the door behind him as Ulrich sped away. They were out of the forest in seconds, and had just arrived in front of the factory entrance.

"Guys…" the gang looked at Odd, then down to his ankle. The sight was grotesque; unlike anything any of them had ever seen. The flesh from his ankle had been chewed off, revealing the bone beneath it. The torn section of his purple jeans was now doused in blood, and around his wound, the flesh was already rotting.

"Oh no…"

**-COTD-**

Ulrich and Jeremy were carrying Odd through the underbelly of the factory towards the old barracks the workers would use.

"How long do you think this will last?" Jeremy asked. Ulrich, being a master of Pinchak Silat, knew what pressure points to push in order to make Odd drop into a comma.

"A few days." Ulrich paused to gather his thoughts, "If what I can remember is correct, the transformation will be slower if he is asleep. That should buy us some time to get some medicine for him."

Aelita mentioned that they should check the Super Scan to see if XANA had launched an attack, and Yumi went with her.

"I can't believe I let him get bitten…" Aelita muttered, "If only I reacted a couple of seconds sooner!" she yelled, punching the elevator wall.

"There was no way you could have prevented it. That Infected was incredibly fast; there was no way you, or any of us, could have caught up to it." Yumi reassured her, "Besides, we're going into the city tomorrow to get medicine. He'll be fine, I promise." Yumi said the words with confidence, but deep inside she was feeling the same way as Aelita. She had a special way of bottling up her emotions.

The elevator doors opened, revealing the Super Calculator. Aelita paced towards the screen, realizing that Jeremy had left the security camera's footage playing.

Yumi pointed to a particular window, "Why are all of the Infected gathering towards that spot?"

"I'm not sure…let me zoom in for a closer look." As the camera focused in on the small crowed of zombies, a blonde haired figure immerged from behind a pile of rubble, annihilating the group.

"Is that what I think it is?" Yumi said.

"It's a survivor! Yumi, we have to help her!"

**And that's a wrap! If you have any more CL: Evolution news that I didn't mention at the top, feel free to write it in a review or PM me!**


	7. The Ishiyama Residence

**Alright, I've got some more quick news for you! And, if I don't mention something, feel free to leave a review. And thank you to ****A Small Voice**** for her comment :D I didn't know some of that xD**

**-"One of the most egregious examples of sexual tension is finally resolved." Possibly for Ulrich and Yumi?**

**-"The live-action components will be filmed in the Angoulême region of France in July-August 2012, with Kadic scenes filmed at the Lycée Guez de Balzac."**

**-"A video of the cast (The Casting Teaser that's on Youtube) has been released with their faces hidden, but at present all cast members have been sworn to secrecy about their identities."**

**-Considering that the song in the Casting Teaser was in English, I'm assuming that they are going to create an English version or at least dub over the French version.**

**-The Facebook game is officially out (but no one really cares about that.)**

**-Last but not least, it has been confirmed that the actor playing Odd is very…svelte xD**

**The Ishiyama Residence**

Ulrich, after prolonged begging from Aelita, decided that the gang should help the blonde girl that was seen from the security footage.

"You never know, she could be useful. Besides, we could use a hand with our little…problem." Ulrich said, pointing behind him in Odd's direction. He was lying on a bed where the factory workers would have slept.

"I don't see why we shouldn't help her. We have to push through that street to get to the pharmacy, anyway. Besides, I've got some anger I need to take out!" Yumi showed her signature grin.

"We've got no time to loose, either. Odd's condition is getting worse, and at this rate we'll never get the medicine in time." Aelita said. She seemed to be the only one who was generally worried about Odd.

"If we're going to go up against that many Infected, we're going to need something that packs a little more punch than a pipe. I think it's probably time we went to Yumi's house." Ulrich said. The gang nodded their head in agreement and followed Ulrich out into the street. Aelita turned to Odd for a second before following suit.

**-COTD-**

The five friends walked in silence. Remembering what Odd had told them about noise attracting the Infected, they tried to stay as quiet as possible. Yumi's house was only a few blocks away from the factory, making it easier for them to stay out of sight.

As they snuck around the corner that led to Yumi's house, Ulrich whispered, "Yumi, I need to talk to you."

He led her far enough away that the group wouldn't hear them, "Okay, Ulrich, what do you need to talk to me about, huh?"

"Yumi…just promise me that no matter what we see in that house, you won't freak out. Okay?" Ulrich had become aware that the group hadn't seen a single trace of the Ishiyama family.

Yumi looked deeply into his eyes, "Ulrich, you know I can handle it. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have come."

Aelita stuck her head out from around the corner, "Are you two love-birds done yet? If you haven't noticed, we have a house to ransack!"

"Aelita, you've been listening to Odd's stupid jokes way too much." Ulrich mumbled.

"Yeah, and if you two don't hurry up, none of us are going to hear any more of them!"

Ulrich nodded and motioned for Yumi to follow him around the corner to the Ishiyama home. Yumi looked up at the house for a brief moment before following the rest of the group through the gate and into her old home.

"The weapons should be in a closet in my parents' bedroom." Yumi whispered. The gang followed her through the kitchen and around a corner to a long hallway. They passed the living room, where they realized that the television had been left on.

"Well, here we are…" Ulrich slowly turned the door knob before slightly poking his head through the crack.

Ulrich gagged, "Oh…God…"

Jeremy got the picture and grabbed Yumi's arm, leading her back to the kitchen, "Let go of me Jeremy!"

"It's for your own good!"

Ulrich put a reassuring hand on Aelita's shoulder, "You don't have to come in here if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. I've watched enough horror films with Odd that I can handle anything." the pinkette said with a smile.

Ulrich opened the door completely and stepped in, horrified at the scene before him. Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama were both sprawled out on the bed, with the sheets around them stained in crimson. There were bloody handprints that marked the walls, each telling their own story of the terrifying events that occurred. Ulrich remained calm and strong, but Aelita had not been prepared for such a tragedy.

Ulrich grasped Aelita's shoulders and shook her, "Aelita, keep your head in the game. I know this is terrible, but we don't have time to worry about people that are already dead. It's too late to save them now…"

"That's not what I'm worried about," Aelita paused to regain her composure, "It just that…Hiroki probably did this…" she then pointed at the window that had been left slightly ajar.

"Yeah, you're right. At least he's out in the city somewhere, and not here." Ulrich walked over to closet, realizing that it was locked.

"Argh, the one time I need Odd's lockpicking skill…" Ulrich frustratingly mumbled, "I don't have time for this." Ulrich stepped back. He got into a martial arts form, before launching his leg towards the door. With a loud crash, the door sprung from the hinges.

"Wow…I didn't know you had it in you, Ulrich."

"Yeah, yeah, let's get these weapons and get out of here."

**-COTD-**

Jeremy had Yumi pinned down to the floor, "Not so small anymore, huh Yumi?"

"Get your fucking hands off me!" Yumi screamed at him, trying with all she had in her to get free.

Ulrich and Aelita walked into the kitchen with the weapons. Being a witness to the scene, Ulrich decided that it was best if Jeremy didn't let her see what was in the room. Jeremy saw Ulrich and Aelita come back into the room and proceeded to remove his hands from Yumi's shoulders.

"Sorry about the use of force, Ulrich. Hope I didn't hurt her…" Jeremy said. His voice sounded sincere, but there was a hint of gloating, as well.

Ulrich smirked, "Don't worry, buddy. I don't think I could even hurt Yumi."

Yumi realized that the two were distracted and took the shot, launching herself to her feet. Unfortunately for her, Ulrich had been observing her from the corner of his eye. Just as she was about to slip between the two, he stuck his arm out and grabbed her waist.

"Trust me, Yumi, it's for your own good…" Ulrich said. This time, Yumi didn't fight back. She simply stood there.

Jeremy slipped away as to not be an intruder in their moment, "Uhm, I'm just gonna go talk to Aelita for a little while."

Ulrich pulled Yumi into a tight hug, shushing her tears, "Come on, Yumi. Please be strong. I know that's a lot to ask for but…I mean…it's just better that you don't see what's in that room."

After a few minutes, Yumi regained her calmness, "You're probably right…Odd is more important than people that are already dead…" Ulrich smiled at her response. He always liked how she could hold her head straight no matter what.

"You're most definitely right. Come on; if we don't get that medicine, Odd's going to end up Infected…"

**I'll be honest, I hated this chapter xD I just couldn't put what the characters were feeling into words. And on top of that, I've got strep D: Oh, well, this chapter is better than nothing I guess xD**


	8. The Damsel in Distress

**Turns out, I didn't have Strep! :D But there is some other bad, yet interesting news. For some reason, I kept blacking out or getting really dizzy when I was up high on a ride at Six Flags the other day (Goliath, for instance), so I told my mom about it and went to the doctor's office the next day. As it turns out, I've developed a mild case of Chronic Vertigo. Seems as if I'm more like Ulrich than I thought xD**

**Anyway, that's why it's been a little while since I've updated. In my spare time, however, I have been looking up some news about CL: Evolution, but unfortunately I haven't found much. Although I have found a WONDERFUL website that has every single episode of Code Lyoko available for free streaming! **** !** **:D**

**-Cartoon Network has recently agreed to resume airing Toonami, although it is only a rumor that Code Lyoko: Evolution will be available on it.**

**The Damsel in Distress**

The gang hurried down the sidewalk. Much to Ulrich's surprise, they hadn't seen even one Infected. He was a bit disappointed at it, actually. He was looking forward to trying out his new weapons.

Not only did Yumi's father have ordinary firearms, he also had some 'not-so-legal' choices as well. Ulrich had chosen a semi-automatic shot gun, along with a secondary katana that he kept sheathed for emergencies. Aelita and Jeremy had chosen smaller weapons. Aelita wielded a small 9mm pistol and a combat knife, as did Jeremy. Yumi, seeking revenge, took the biggest weapon she could find. Although it is very lightweight, the M4 Assault Rifle she carried packed quite a punch. She was wearing bullet straps around her waist and on her shoulder that were filled with 5.56mm rounds.

"Doesn't it seem strange that there aren't any Infected? Not even one…" Ulrich asked, letting his weapon fall to his side.

A spark of realization hit Aelita, "They're probably all surrounding that girl!" she began to run faster, passing Ulrich in the process, "Come on! Let's hope we aren't too late!"

Aelita's will to help others surpassed her realization that she had no clue how to operate a firearm.

"Aelita wait!" Jeremy's words were in vain as Aelita had already dashed ahead of them. Seeing that they had little choice, he began to sprint to catch up.

Aelita's eyes widened as she reached the top of the large hill. From the top, she could oversee the entire city.

"Whoa…" Jeremy's murmured in shock as he caught up to her, "How could a bunch of zombies cause _this_?" Many of the buildings that once stood proudly now crumbled and burned.

Ulrich approached the top of the hill, "It's like the Butterfly Effect…one wrong move can destroy everything…"

"Come on, we've got to get that medicine. Odd doesn't stand a chance if we don't get there soon." Yumi said. She seemed to have forgotten the events that occurred beforehand.

Ulrich led the group down the hill and into the outskirts of the city. What were once busy shops and restaurants were now crumbled rubble.

"One of Odd's stupid jokes sure would hit the spot right about now…" Ulrich mumbled. He winced as Aelita turned to him with a glare, realizing he hit a nerve.

"Yeah, and as I've said before, being sluggish isn't going to help him at all! At this rate, his DNA will become destabilized before we even get there! Once the deoxyribonucleic acid from this pestilence gets to his cerebrum, it's all over!" Ulrich confusingly faced her. Realizing that he had no idea what Aelita had just said, Jeremy stepped up.

"If we don't get to him in the next six hours, his brain will rot."

Ulrich mouthed a quick 'oh' before continuing his sprint towards the gunshots that could be heard in the distance. He rounded a corner before stopping dead in his tracks, with the others slamming into him.

"What is it _now_?" Yumi complained. After not receiving an answer, she decided to peer past Ulrich's shoulder, "Oh…yeah, I think she's got it covered."

The sight before them was mind-blowing. What looked like a frail girl who had never used a weapon in her life turned out to be the exact opposite.

"Come on! Let's give her a hand!" Ulrich shouted as he brought his weapon to a firing position, "Ah! Kill the zombies!"

"Alright! Time for some good old fashioned payback!" Yumi shouted as she brought her rifle up to her hip and fired into the massive crowed of Infected, taking out dozens.

Aelita and Jeremy stood back, realizing that their close ranged weapons would leave them choosing between 'certain death' and 'probable death'.

Ulrich grabbed an Infected by the neck and raised his shotgun up to its head, "Take a shell to the head, maggot eater!" he fired a shell, severing the Infected's head from its shoulders. He fired several more shots until he had none left.

"Let's he how good my skills are in the real world." Ulrich unsheathed his katana, hacking and slashing at multiple Infected. After obliterating the zombies that were charging him, he turned his eyes to Yumi. Witnessing her change magazines, he watched as she annihilated dozens of zombies before shoving the barrel of her Colt to the last Infected's head.

"That's for my father!" a shot rang out as the final Infected was killed, "And this one's for my mom!" she fired a second shot into it, just to be safe.

Aelita peered out from behind a corner, "Jeremy, I think it's safe. Come on; let's get this chick and go!"

Ulrich jogged to the blonde headed girl and helped her up. He was awestruck by her features, which was a trait he hadn't expected from a girl like her. Regardless of how unkempt she appeared, she was still extremely pretty. Her face had not one blemish, and her figure seemed angelic.

"Thanks for the assist back there," the blonde girl said, "By the way, my name's Elise."

"Happy to help." Ulrich said, "These are my friends, Jeremy, Aelita, and Yumi." he pointed at the respective person as their name was called.

Yumi spoke up, "Elise, huh?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Elise smiled.

"You really remind me of our friend, Odd." Yumi paused, "The purple streak in your hair!"

"You like it? Ha, I've always considered it as an abnormality. I was born with it."

Aelita quickly cut in, amazed at how the group could go from 'hardcore Rambo' to 'Pretty Little Lairs' in such a short time, "Ok, ok, no time for chit chat. Elise, you should stick with us. There's no way we're leaving you on your own."

"What's the rush? Shouldn't we like…celebrate or something?" Elise asked.

It was now Jeremy's turn to speak, "Our friend, Odd, was bitten last night. We're hoping we can find some antibiotics at the pharmacy in the city."

Elise's mood suddenly dampened, "Oh…yeah we should probably hurry, then."

The group nodded, letting Ulrich resume leading the group into the forsaken city that was once Paris.

Aelita looked around, bewildered at the shear amount of damage that the plague had done. Many of the shops that she and Odd would visit on their midnight walks were now reduced to piles of concrete. A tear found its way down her cheek as she revisited the memories of those nights.

"You okay, Princess?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah…it's just so astonishing that this could happen in just a day…"

**-COTD-**

A harsh thump rang out from the Ice Sector. In the distance, a Tower that once stood white was now enclosed in crimson.

*Beep Beep Beep Beep*

The four teens turned to Jeremy who was fishing his laptop from his satchel.

"Oh no, just what we needed! We've got an activated tower."

Ulrich punched his fist into a nearby wall, "Dammit, Xana, you sure do know how to play fair…"

Elise looked at them with a confused look, "Who's Xana? And why is a video game making that infernal racket?"

Ulrich grabbed her arm, "I'll explain later. Yumi, you go with Jeremy and Aelita to deactivate the Tower. Elise and I will get the medicine and meet you guys back at the factory."

Yumi hesitated then nodded at him before disappearing around a corner.

"Come on, Elise. We don't have much time." he said, jerking her further into the city.

"Ulrich, what is going on? Explain this!"

"Alright, well I suppose I've got nothing to lose," he paused to gather his thoughts, still running with Elise, "Xana is type of computer virus that is bent on destroying the world, as you can see. We discovered him, along with a Super Computer that housed him, two years back. Inside the Super Computer is a virtual world called Lyoko which Franz Hopper, who is Aelita's father, created as a military experiment or something. We use scanners to virtualize ourselves onto Lyoko and deactivate the Towers that Xana activates in order to get to Earth. Any questions?"

Elise jerked his arm, making him stop, "So you're telling me that you guys started this whole thing?" Ulrich was surprised that she didn't question his story.

"Trust me, we did everything we could to stop it! Now come on, we don't have time to talk! I'll let Jeremy explain everything when we get back to the factory!"

**-COTD-**

"Transfer, Yumi; Transfer, Aelita; Virtualization!"

The two girls landed with a soft thud, overlooking the Ice Sector.

"Here come your vehicles." Just then, the Overboard and the Overwing spawned in front of them, "The Tower is just west of your position. You can't miss it!"

Yumi laughed, "We'd have to be as nearsighted as you _not_ to see it!"

Aelita gave her a weird look, "Isn't that Odd's joke?"

"Hey, someone's got to say it. It just doesn't feel like a normal trip to Lyoko without one of his dumb jokes." Aelita smiled at her and revved the Overboard's engines, propelling it forward with Yumi not far behind.

"Alright, girls, I see two tarantulas guarding the tower. Piece of cake, right?"

"If you call having a dying best friend along with being bombarded with lasers a 'piece of cake', then yes." Aelita said. Her sarcasm provoked a lasting silence, allowing the two girls to concentrate on their separate monsters.

Yumi thrust her fans into the air, with one being shot down and the other penetrating through the tarantula's Eye. Unfortunately for Yumi, the shrapnel discharge from the explosion collided with her vehicle, causing it to devirtualize. With a hard thud, she landed on the ground. Aelita wasn't having as much luck as Yumi did, however.

"Energy Field!" the ball of pixelated energy left her hand with small swoosh. The tarantula, however, had other plans. Moving to its left, it narrowly dodged the attack.

"Oh rats!" Aelita complained just as the Overboard was being devirtualized. She fell to the ground and rolled once before regaining her balance. Just as she was about to be devirtualized, herself, a small metal fan hurled through the air, slicing through the anathematic creature.

"You're turn, Aelita." Yumi gestured. Aelita entered the tower with ease and floated up to the top. She entered the all too familiar words as the dynamic code around her fell.

"Tower deactivated…" she stepped out of the tower,"There's no sense in doing a return to the past, Jeremy. I don't think Xana had much time to actually do anything."

"You're right. I'll bring you two in. Ulrich and the new girl just got back with the medicine for Odd."

**Did you like it? :D I hope so! I'm definitely going to start making my chapters a tad bit longer later! I'm just trying to write it out how Code Lyoko first got started (not much information at first, but slowly gets more interesting). **

**Oh, and I need some new reading material! Please leave a review about some neat fic you've came across! Preferably OddxAelita or UlrichxYumi! Thanks a bunch :D**


	9. Back to Base

**Welcome back to Code of the Dead! I'm your host, Mr. Ribuscus, and I hope you have a wonderful time reading!**

**Anyway, I got over 100 views for the last chapter, but only one review. Come on people, it takes about a minute. But I thank Ares-A for their continued support :D**

**And if you haven't already, stop by PurpleSatinRose's profile and read ALL of her Fanfics! I promise, you won't disappointed! :D**

**-A picture of the Megapod has been released, displaying all of the Lyoko Warriors (including William) riding inside it. Although Aelita is not shown, it is presumed that she pilots the vehicle. **

**-Sadly, Cartoon Network has disagreed to air Evolution for the time being. Moonscoop and Canal J are searching for a new partnership for them to air it in the states.**

_**(Meanwhile)**_

Ulrich, with Elise trailing just behind him, ran around another corner, thus reaching the pharmacy. Upon entering, he noticed a rather shocking detail. He had expected for the medicine to be gone, but much to his surprise many of the shelves remained fully stocked as if nothing had ever happened.

Elise spoke, "Ok, so what are we getting again?"

"Something about some Augmentin, Peroxide… um…some Tetanus vaccines, and some anti-inflamma-somethings, as if I know what any of that is. Just look around and see if you can find anything that says Augmentin or some Peroxide. I'll look over here for the vaccines and anti-inflamma-….whatevers."

The two branched off with Ulrich looking near the counter that was to the left and Elise looking near the back of the store. Ulrich climbed over the counter, stealing the keys off of the corpse whom he presumed was the cashier. He stared at the body for a moment, expecting it to reach its hand out and grab him at any given moment. He reached down and carefully retrieved the man's wallet.

"Elise…come look at this…" Ulrich dazed.

"Did you find something?" she stepped out from behind a shelf and hopped over the counter to meet him, "Oh…"

Ulrich had the wallet opened, revealing several pictures of what he assumed to be the man's relatives, "This guy had a family and everything…it makes you think about how lucky you are to still be alive, huh?"

"I don't know if you'd call it luck." She pointed at one of the several pictures that were hanging from the wallet, "That was probably his daughter, and that might have been his wife…I wonder what happened to them…" The young girl had curly red hair and freckles, and dimples on either side of her smiling face. The older woman also had red hair, but it was straight and she didn't have as many freckles as the little girl.

"Probably the same thing that happened to um," he searched for a name on the man's driver's license, "Mr. Wiley." They both stood there in silence, mourning over a man whom they'd never even met. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Elise broke the silence, "Anyway, I found some Augmentin and Peroxide, like you asked."

"Wait…Augmentin is a prescription drug, so how did you get it back there?" Ulrich skeptically asked.

Elise held up a lockpicking tool case, "Lockpicking is a very useful tool, brah."

"Ugh, you're so much like Odd. Speaking of which, we need to get out of here and help him before it's too late." Elise nodded and helped him find the anti-inflammatories. They were out of store and running towards the factory in minutes.

**-COTD-**

"Alright, Odd should be fine now as long as it wasn't too late. You guy's seriously didn't see anything Xana-related?" Jeremy asked as he finished bandaging Odd's wound and forcing his reflexes to swallow the medicine. He was worried about what Xana could be planning.

"No, we really didn't." Ulrich answered. Elise was staring at them with astonishment.

"So, Ulrich here told me this wacky story about how you guys caused the zombie outbreak by using some sort of computer thing-a-magiggy. Please tell me he was kidding."

Jeremy stared daggers at Ulrich, "Ulrich…may I remind you that this was supposed to remain a secret? You know, Lyoko Warriors Code and all."

"Jeremy, you and I both know that we're in way over our heads, and we need any backup we can get. Besides, she proved herself with all of those Infected today."

"Alright fine, but we aren't sending her to Lyoko yet. We'll only use her for back up whenever everyone else is devirtualized."

Elise spoke up, "Okay, I'm just going to pretend like I understand exactly what's going on until one of you decides to completely explain this. For now, I'm happy for a shower and a bed."

Just then, Aelita and Yumi rode the elevator up, meeting the others around Odd's bed. Aelita cautiously gazed at Odd's sleeping form.

"You guys got the medicine in him in time, right?" she knelt by his bed, brushing a lock of hair out of his face.

Jeremy answered, "Yeah, I think so. His leg didn't look anywhere near as bad as I thought it would have, so I suppose that's good." He skeptically gestured at Aelita to Ulrich, and the brunette shook his head and gave him an 'I have no idea' kind of look. He knew Odd cared for Aelita in that way, but he was skeptical about Aelita's feelings. Jeremy simply shook the feeling off, understanding that Aelita should be worried for her friends.

Ulrich carefully broke the awkwardness between the two, "I'm thinking along the same lines as Elise. The showers _do_ work here, don't they?"

Aelita turned away from Odd's figure, "Yes, I've used them once before. Don't ask, it's a long story." She blushed, and turned back to Odd. Jeremy blushed as well.

Yumi shook her head in disbelief, "I don't even want to know. I'm sure it wasn't like that, but the mental images I just got are…horrifying to say the least. I'm taking a shower, as well." She followed Elise and Ulrich towards the shower rooms.

Jeremy wearily looked to Aelita, "He'll wake up soon, I hope. I'm going to go work on finding any information on this bacterium that Xana has managed to create. Keep me posted." Aelita faintly nodded at him, continuing to nurse Odd.

For some unknown reason, she couldn't keep from gazing at him. Regardless of how disheveled he appeared, he was still so beautiful all the same. The way his nose would twitch ever so slightly when she touched a certain part of his cheek amused her. She ran her fingers through his messy hair, intertwining his locks between them. She noticed how the purple splotch in his hair had grown in size, laughing a little as she realized that the rest of his hair had also gotten much longer.

"Boo!"

"Ah!" Aelita jumped, swinging around to assault the attacker, "Jeez Ulrich, you scared me to death!" She roughly punched his arm.

"Ow! No more Pencak Silat lessons for you; you're getting too strong." he paused, "I noticed how you…um…how do I put this? Ugh, I'll just say it. You like Odd, don't you?

Aelita was stunned, "I…what?"

Ulrich wasn't buying her act, "I've been watching you for the past five minutes Princess, so don't even think about tricking me."

Aelita let her shoulders droop, "I mean, he's funny and all, but I don't think of him as more than a friend!"

"Yeah, whatever. That's what I always said with Yumi. Alas, if you don't want to talk to me, I understand, just don't let Jeremy find out." He gave her a thumbs up and a wink before walking to the elevator and pressing the down button.

**-COTD-**

Elise and Yumi were still in their separate showers. Yumi was in the far left corner, while Elise occupied one in the right.

Elise let out an exasperated sigh, "Well, it isn't warm water, but at least it's clean."

Yumi laughed from across the room, "We're in a zombie apocalypse, and you're worrying about hot water? How in the world are you staying so calm in a situation like this?"

"Well, look at it this way. No matter how much I complain, or worry, or mourn, or anything else, I can't change what happened. So, I suppose I should just make the best out of a bad situation, right?" Elise commented as she washed the shampoo out of her hair. Yumi had been smart enough to collect her bathroom things during the Kadic expedition, and let Elise borrow some.

"That's just not sensible, though! I mean, you're not supposed to keep all of your feelings bottled up like that." Yumi actually sounded genuinely concerned about the blonde girl.

"Being sensible is just not sensible, am I right?"

"Pfft, you stole that from the Subdigitals." The two teens laughed and continued with their showers. After 10 more minutes of silence, Elise stepped out of the shower.

"Hey, Yumi, I know you already let me borrow some shampoo and things but…I don't exactly have suitable clothes. Do you have anything?"

"I don't have anything that's your style, but I'm sure Aelita will have something. You're welcome to pick out an outfit from her stuff." Yumi was secretly hoping Aelita wouldn't mind.

"Ok, thanks!"

**-COTD-**

Hearing the elevator running, Jeremy turned his chair around to greet his visitor, "Oh, hi Ulrich."

"You find anything yet?" Ulrich waltzed over to the computer, observing all of Jeremy's hard work that he couldn't possibly understand.

"Well, maybe. When I was bandaging Odd's leg, I scraped a little bit of skin off as well. After putting it into one of the scanners, I found this." The blonde pulled up a large window, displaying the small amount of bacteria that he had collected.

"Besides from the symbol, I don't see anything weird about them." Ulrich commented.

"Exactly. It seems that Xana somehow retrieved a specimen of Amoeba and modified it somehow, but I really don't understand how he could do such a thing. Unless…" he began to frantically type on the keyboard, failing to pay Ulrich any more attention.

"Alright Einstein, I'm heading back up. If you find anything, make sure you tell us." He stepped into the elevator and pressed the up button, ascending to the upper levels of the factory. The large metal door opened, and he walked back to where Aelita and Odd were. Yumi and Elise had also joined them. "Has he made any signs of improvement?"

Aelita happily faced him, "His brain is functioning properly, so at least we know that he isn't infected."

"I'll never understand how you know that just by looking at him. It must be a girl thing; that would explain why most nurses are usually girls." He let out a chuckle at his own joke.

Yumi slapped the side of his arm, "I'm not sure if you were being sexist or if it's a complement, so I'll just slap you to make sure."

Ulrich laughed and put his arm around her, leading her away from the small group. Elise and Aelita sat observing Odd.

"So now that things are a little calmer, do you mind explaining this whole 'Super Computer' thing?" Elise asked.

"First, how about you explain how you got my clothes?" Aelita laughed, making it clear that she didn't honestly care. Elise's attire consisted of a purple tang top underneath a tight red V-neck, purple skinny jeans, and red Converses.

"Yumi told me that you packed all of your clothes, and that I could grab something. I made sure it wasn't completely your style though."

"No, no, it's fine. I'm always happy to lend a hand. They fit you pretty nicely. I had no idea I was as petite as you."

"What? Pff, you're gorgeous!" Aelita blushed slightly, "And the pink hair, most people couldn't pull that off, but it fits you!"

Aelita beamed, "Ah, thanks. It's not so often I get complements like that. Especially in a zombie apocalypse." The two girls burst into laughter.

"Anyway, I suppose Ulrich's right, we need some back up." Aelita paused to align her thoughts, "So now to answer your question. About three years ago, Jeremy, the blonde genius, discovered the Super Calculator. When he turned it on, he discovered me."

Elise interrupted her, "So you were _inside _the Super Computer? Come on, that's pure science fiction!"

"Let me finish first, and then I'll show you. Anyway, after he found me, our friends Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd joined him in helping get me out of Lyoko, which is a sort of virtual universe inside the Super Computer. A little over a year afterwards, they finally set me free. But, while I was being taken away from the Super Computer, Xana, which is a sort of computer virus, implanted a virus inside my DNA. Unfortunately, we still haven't discovered the antivirus."

"Whoa whoa, hold on a second. So who created the Super Computer to begin with? And what does all of this have to do with the zombie outbreak?" Elise had a contorted look about her face signaling her mass confusion.

"My father, Franz Hopper built the Super Computer and Lyoko to counter a military project codenamed Carthage, and he created Xana to control Lyoko. Come on, I think it would be easier if I just showed you."

"But what about your friend?" Elise gestured to Odd.

"He'll be fine. Come on, let me show you around the place." She led her to the elevator, descending to the Super Computer.

"Hi Aelita, I still haven't found anythi-," he stopped when he noticed Elise with her.

Aelita noticed his discomfort, "Don't worry Jeremy, I just want to show her around. It's not like she has anywhere else to go, so she should get comfortable."

"Alright…" Jeremy turned back to his computer, "If I find anything, I'll let you know."

Aelita turned to face Elise, "If you ever need to talk to Jeremy, he'll usually be in here. Now come on, let me show you the scanner room."

"Scanner…room? Er, I'm sorry, this is just a lot to take in." she followed Aelita back into the elevator and rode it down, "So you guys went to school and fought Xana at the same time? That's so crazy! How exactly do you _fight _Xana anyway?" Her question was answered as the elevator door opened, revealing three tall scanners.

"This is how we get to Lyoko to deactivate the Towers, which Xana uses to get to our world."

"This is so neat! They look like giant coffins!" Elise stood in the middle of the room, looking up at the three scanners.

"If you're not careful with them, that's what they'll end up being." Elise quickly jumped out of one the scanners, eyeing it carefully. Aelita let Elise continue to look around, observing how bewildered the blonde seemed to be.

Jeremy's voice came from above, "Hey, I think may have found something!" This brought the two girls to his attention. Aelita climbed the ladder, followed by Elise.

"What did you find?" Aelita asked.

"I've managed to locate the code for the bacteria that Xana modified in Sector Five!" Jeremy was rather excited at his discoveries.

"And let me guess, you need us to go there?"

"Precisely."

Elise pumped her fists in the air, "Alright! Adventure, here I come!"

Jeremy raised his hand to silence her, "No, you're staying here with me."

Elise pouted for a moment, and Aelita took up for her, "Come on Jeremy, the worst that could happen is for her to be crushed by a moving obstacle. Let her come! Besides, if she's going to be with us, she needs to train a little, right?"

"Moving obstacles? Crushed? Um…maybe I should stay behind and-,"

"No, Aelita's probably right; you need to get some get some training in." Jeremy said. Elise looked around in fright.

"Don't worry Elise; you don't feel pain on Lyoko." Elise's mood lightened.

Jeremy's voice rang over the intercoms throughout the factory, telling the rest of the gang to meet at the Super Computer. Shortly after, the elevator could be heard. Ulrich and Yumi stepped out together.

"What's wrong, Einstein?" Ulrich said.

"I found something in Sector Five about this bacterium, and I want you guys to retrieve the information."

"Well, I'd love to, but it's past midnight. Can't we do it first thing tomorrow morning?"

Jeremy looked at his watch, realizing what time it was, "Oh…yeah, sure. Nothing starts the day like a trip to Lyoko right?" the group laughed at his bad joke.

Elise pumped her fists in the air once again, "Woo! This is so much cooler than Ultimate Ninja 6!"

**So, I tried to make this chapter longer, and it turns out its more than twice as long as the others :D Please leave a review! **


	10. Amoewhat?

**Hello there, my wonderful readers! Sorry it took me so long! I've been re-watching ****Avatar: The Last Airbender**** and ****Legend of Korra****, then I realized I didn't have all of the achievements for ****Halo: Reach****, so I had to do that. Then I procrastinated for a few days, and then I went to ****Warped Tour****! :D So please don't kill me xD**

'**Amoe-what?':**

_White light. I want to reach the white light._

_But I can't… the white light is moving. Moving away._

_Earth under me…no. I want the light. _

_No light? Light is gone? _

_Falling. Falling…_

"Ah!" Odd jerked up from his sleep. The blonde clutched his head, realizing that his hair was no longer in a point, but rather an unkempt mess of spikes, "Ugh…my head."

Yumi's voice came from under some covers, "Odd's talking in his sleep again. Ulrich, make him stop."

Ulrich got up, and was startled to see Odd sitting up, "Odd! You're awake!" the blonde was engulfed by a pair of arms. Odd was confused, but he hugged Ulrich, nonetheless.

"Jeez, you guys act like I just got resurrected. What happened?" Odd asked. The rest of his friends, except Jeremy, had now gathered around him. Aelita sat beside him, rubbing his back to comfort him.

"You've been out for a few days now. It's good to see you're okay." she smiled. He gave her a smirk in return.

"Whoa…who's the new chick? And where's Jeremy?" Odd asked, pointing to another blonde girl.

Yumi put her arm across the girl's shoulders, "This is Elise. We met her when we were out in the city getting your medicine."

Ulrich motioned towards her with his thumb, "If it weren't for her, you'd be dead. And you can probably guess where Jeremy is."

Odd carefully moved his arm up to shake her hand, "Well, it's great to meet you." he paused, "Speaking of 'meat', where's the food at?"

Ulrich, unable to contain himself, began to laugh hysterically, "Cooler room!"

Odd looked at him, utterly confused, "What's so funny?"

Yumi pinched the bridge of her nose, "At least this proves your vitals are good."

Aelita stood and helped Odd stand up, "I'll take him to get some food. You guys go back to sleep."

The group nodded, before lying back in their respective bunks. Much to Odd's surprise, his leg didn't hurt. He still could not remember how he was injured. However, Aelita insisted on helping him walk, and he could use the company. The two walked down the stairs and to the left down a long hallway and rounded another corner. Odd could see a blue light coming from a window in one of the doors, and he assumed that was the cooler room. Aelita opened the door and allowed Odd to step in.

"Wow…there's so much food here…it's like Heaven!" Odd flailed his arms in the air with joy, wrapping his arms around the food.

"Yeah…don't you remember getting all of this?" Aelita asked while putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No…the last thing I remember is going in the gym."

"That's strange. Probably just some amnesia, though. Nothing to be worried about." she smiled, happy that he didn't have to remember Milly or being bitten.

Odd turned toward her, "Hey…how exactly are we supposed to cook this stuff?"

Aelita smiled, "During one of my explorations, I remembered there was an old kitchen here. With a little help from Jeremy, we got it working in no time!" Odd smiled, delighted that they actually had food and a way to prepare it.

"And what about showers? I've noticed that everyone is…well…cleaner than I expected."

"Yeah, there's an old shower room." The pinkette laughed, "Come on, it's freezing in here!"

Odd quickly picked his food item, which was a container of ravioli, and followed Aelita out the door and across the hall, where he was astonished to see a fully operational kitchen. The appliances were old and rusty, but they functioned properly. All of them were lined up on the back wall along with several cabinets and drawers to separate them.

"How long have you known this was here, Princess?"

"Well, I've kind of always known it was here, but Jeremy and I fixed it just a few months ago." she walked over to a bar stool and wiped the dust off of it before sitting down.

"This is so convenient." Odd opened one of the drawers, noticing that the pots and pans inside had been cleaned. He washed it out with hot water though, just to be safe.

Aelita lightly giggled, "I'd like to hear you spell 'convenient'."

Odd faced her with a proud look on his face, "C-O-N-V-E-N-Y-U-N-T! Ha!"

Aelita smacked her palm against her forehead, "Yeah, if you're a redneck who didn't graduate grade school."

Odd scowled, but was unable to contain his laughter, "You know, if it were anyone else, I'd be mad right now." he paused, "It's weird, you know? We're both acting like the zombie apocalypse never even happened." He didn't mean to say it the way he did, but it was out there now. Instantly, the mood of the room changed.

Aelita turned her gaze to the floor, "It's better that way. We've all been through so much that it just seems like another day fighting Xana."

Odd placed his pot on the stove and walked to Aelita, placing a hand on her shoulder, "It does, doesn't it? We've all just gotten used to it, so it seems somewhat normal."

Aelita let a tear roll down her cheek; "I can't believe I let this happen…" she turned away.

"Aelita, you didn't let anything happen. You aren't any more responsible than we are. We all try our hardest to stop Xana, but sometimes he's simply one step ahead of us." He pulled her into a hug.

"I'm scared, Odd…" Tears continued to flow down her cheeks, dripping from her chin every now and then.

"I know, Princess." He pulled her into a hug, which she graciously received, "But you've got to be strong. You may not realize it, but if it weren't for you, none of us would be friends. You're the glue that keeps us together, you know that?"

It may not have been the exact inspirational speech she wanted to hear, but it settled her nerves, nonetheless. If she had acted like this in front of anyone else, she would have been ashamed and embarrassed. However, Odd was different; he was closer to her than anyone else, including Jeremy. She loved Jeremy, that's for sure, but she couldn't help but feel more secure while Odd was around.

"Alright, Princess, I've got to get my ravioli. I don't want it to burn!" he let out a hearty laugh, causing her to laugh, as well. He opened several drawers before finally finding an oven mitt, "Do you want some?"

Aelita laughed, "No, thank you. I don't have more than one stomach, like you do."

Odd shrugged and put the food into a plate. He carefully walked over to where Aelita was sitting and pulled up a stool next to her. He suddenly got a mischievous look about him. Aelita knew this look, and she knew to be afraid of it. This time, however, he wasn't going to do something bad. He simply waved the food in front of her face, causing the aroma to find its way into her nose.

"Come on, you know you want some."

Aelita smiled happily and giggled at him, lightly shoving the food away from her, "I want that as much as I want _you._"

"That all depends on one's perspective." He sat his food on the table and faced her, "You could want me, or you could _want _me." Then he did something she hadn't expected; he winked at her. Aelita assumed that he was playing around at first, but _that_ changed everything. Odd, however, seemed to think nothing of it; he had returned to eating his food.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Odd?" Her voice didn't sound serious, but she was trying to be.

"Seeing that I'm at a loss of words, I'll write it in a song." Odd stated as if it were the simplest thing someone could do.

"You're saying you're going to write a song for me? During a tragedy such as this?" she tried to give a stern face, but began laughing instead, "I'm telling you, Odd, you really know how to make a girl feel special." She didn't really know what to think. Odd had always been there, but as a friend; nothing else. And now he's writing songs for her?

"I try. Just don't tell anyone! I want it to just be between you and me." He said, finishing his ravioli. He stood from his stool and waltzed to the sink. Instead of washing it out, he simply put the bowl in the sink, "I'll clean it in the morning. Come on, Princess, you need to sleep."

"Yeah, I suppose I need to be prepared to go to Lyoko tomorrow." She said.

"We're going to Lyoko tomorrow? For what?"

She smacked her forehead, "Oh rats, I forgot to tell you? Yeah, Jeremy found some information about the Amoeboid that causes this virus."

"The Amoe-what?" he was utterly confused.

She shook her head and giggled sympathetically, "It's a form of bacteria. Xana got ahold of one, somehow. Jeremy thinks he may have found something, so we go get it."

"Well, nothing starts the day like a trip to Lyoko, right?" Odd laughed. Aelita experienced déjà vu for a moment before regaining herself.

**-COTD-**

After taking showers and eating, the gang made their way to Super Computer. Although Elise was extremely excited, she was also a bit frightened. Just a week ago, she was sitting in her Biology class talking with her friends, and now she was involved in a war against a computer virus. But, being the realist that she was, she let go of her memories, content to let them fade away. As she thought, she could hear faint voices around her.

"Elise? Elise, you there?" she was suddenly jolted back into reality by Yumi's voice.

"What? I mean-…yeah I'm fine!" she realized she oversold her dialogue.

"Don't be scared, Elise. The worst that could happen is for you to get hit by a few lasers and be sent back here. Don't worry about it." Yumi only spoke the half-truth. She knew exactly what was at stake by letting her join them, but admitted that they were in a state of peril and needed more soldiers.

However, the thought of being hit by lasers then being roughly returned to Earth did not settle Elise's nerves. She gazed up at the large scanners in awe, but there was also a hint of terror. In her nervousness, she began to twirl a few strands of her golden hair in between her fingers.

She was, again, sprung from her thoughts by Jeremy's voice ringing through the scanner room, "Okay, you guys ready?" She watched as Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd stepped in their scanners.

She heard Odd's voice from within the scanner, and realized he was mumbling something about how he could never get over the tingling sensation that he always felt while being virtualized. She hoped that it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. She frantically jumped away from the scanner she was standing in front of as it opened.

Aelita gave her a laugh of pity, "Settle down; I promise it isn't as bad as it seems. Just make sure you land on your feet when you get to Lyoko." With that, she walked into her respective scanner. Elise hesitated for a moment before walking into her scanner.

"Elise, are you ready?" Jeremy's voice rang through the intercoms.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She had to admit that this was much more frightening that Ultimate Ninja 6.

"Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Elise." Elise felt her feet loose contact with the floor.

"Scanner. Virtualization!" A blast of white light engulfed her. The next thing she knew, she was suspended in the air, watching as her feet became visible. With little warning, she fell to the ground. She remembered what Aelita had told her, however, and harshly landed on her feet. It wasn't as graceful as it could have been, but she didn't have time to worry about that.

Her first discovery was that they seemed to be in a mountainous region. There were a few tree's scattered around, but they were oddly shaped and didn't seem to be alive. The next thing she noticed was that respiration didn't seem to be necessary. She would try to breath and nothing would happen, yet she didn't feel the need for more air.

She gazed around at the other Lyoko Warriors, surprised to see that their outfits had drastically changed. Odd was a giant purple cat, Ulrich was a samurai, Yumi was in a geisha costume, and Aelita looked like Tinkerbelle's servant. Jeremy had told her that they looked different on Lyoko, but she wasn't expecting a giant cat or an elf.

Aelita broke their silence, "Your outfit is so much slicker than ours are. Probably because you're newer and the systems have been upgraded since then."

"Yeah, it looks…sexy." Ulrich remarked, gaining a look from Yumi, "What? It was just a complement."

Elise looked down at her attire. She was wearing a tight light green bodysuit with a sky-blue stripe down both sides and her legs. The stipe twisted around her arms, ending at her palm. Sky-blue boots adorned her feet and, on her hands, were fingerless gloves of the same color. She noticed a weight on her left ear, realizing that it was an ear ring. As the others conversed amongst themselves, she could hear their voices erupting from it. While she was observing the stipe that twisted down her arms, she noticed two rather large wristbands with a slit in them. As if it were part of her instinct, she flicked her wrist, revealing a red digital blade.

"Hey, look at this!" she waved at the others and flicked her wrist, showing the glowing blade to them.

Odd ecstatically approached her, "That's so awesome!" she blushed ever so slightly. Regardless of Odd's ridiculous paws and ears, he was cute.

The two were interrupted by Jeremy's voice, "Alright, you guys can discuss fashion later. Get to the end of the sector on the double. I'm sending you your vehicles."

Elise watched as three very distinct vehicle's spawned in front of her. There was a type of surfboard, a one-wheeled motorcycle, and a sort of disc with a handle bar.

"This just gets weirder and weirder…" she mumbled.

Yumi laughed, "Yeah, you get used to it. Come on, we need to go before any monsters show up." She jumped onto the Overwing, and Elise followed suit. Ulrich rode the Overbike, and Odd and Aelita shared the Overboard.

Odd raised his fist in the air, "CHARGE!" He took off without warning, causing Aelita grasp him tightly. The others shook their heads before taking off after him.

Elise was awestruck at the beauty of Lyoko. At first, it just seemed like a barren mountaintop, but now that she was higher up, she could see that there was a vast array tubes and roots scattered around. The pipes, she realized, were the towers that Aelita had told her about. She noticed that the roots were all connected to the towers.

She pointed to the Digital Sea below, "Hey Yumi, after this is over, we could all go swimming!"

Yumi's eyes widened, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you fall in that, it's game over. For good."

Elise abruptly pulled her arm back, afraid that even being close to the Sea was harmful. She carefully gazed over Yumi's shoulder, observing the vehicles in front of her. Ulrich was on land, performing various zig-zag movements to avoid rocks. Odd, on the other hand, was flying through the air. She noticed that he would wait until the last second before moving away from a rock that seemed to be floating in mid-air. Aelita seemed to enjoy it though, so she didn't get worried. Before she knew it, Yumi had landed and gotten off the Overwing.

Elise looked around, noticing that there was nothing further in front of them, "So is this it?"

Odd pointed at a large white sphere with a blue symbol on it coming their way, "Nope. Now we get to ride a roller coaster ride straight to Hell." He seemed to be complaining about it.

Ulrich laughed, "He's only saying that because it always makes him nauseous."

Yumi poked Odd's temple, "Maybe if you didn't eat so much, you wouldn't feel that way."

It was Elise's turn to laugh, "You sure don't look like you eat a lot. You're almost scrawny!"

"I am not scrawny! I'm-," he was interrupted by the Transporter surrounding them. Elise could hardly imagine what speed they were going at. She could hear the digital air whizzing by them and was almost afraid that they would hit something, but it never happened. Alas, as soon as it started, it was over. The bubble hovered over a platform before releasing the gang.

"I take back what I said, Odd. I think I'm going to be sick…" Elise clutched her stomach as she watched the Transporter leave from a hole in the ceiling. As quickly as the nausea came, it was gone. She looked around the room she was in with awe. They were inside a dome that seemed to be rotating rapidly back and forth. The spinning came to a stop, and a large corridor came into view. The others hastily ran through it, so she did as well. She was still rather dazed at her new surroundings.

Jeremy spoke, "Alright, I've located the key directly above Yumi." The gang looked up, noticing a small button on the ceiling.

Odd grinned, "Looks like a job for a cat!" With that, he began climbing.

Elise pointed to a figure in the distance, "Is that a giant slug with a metal tail, or am I just seeing things?"

"That's what Odd likes to call a 'Creeper'. Do you have any long range weapons?" Aelita asked. She created an energy field and fired it at a creeper. She grinned as it exploded.

"Am I supposed to know?"

"Jeremy, do a scan of Elise's structure to determine if she has any more offensive weapons. For now, Elise, just stick with your blades. If you discover any other weapons or means of defense, don't hesitate to use them." She turned to take out another creeper, but turned back, "Oh, and try not to get hit, okay? You only have one hundred life points, and these lasers pack a punch."

Elise nodded and ran towards a creeper. If she learned anything from her one year of Ba Gua training, it was how to dodge attacks. The defensive tactic she used was very evasive and tactic. Using intricate foot patterns, she transformed battle into something somewhat graceful. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the Creeper. She jabbed the blade into its Eye and carefully back flipped away, watching it explode just as she landed.

Alas, Odd was not having such luck. There were four Creepers, each at one corner of the room, firing at him.

"Odd, you've only got twenty life points left!" Jeremy rubbed his temples, realizing that Xana was desperate to keep them from getting this information.

Odd, knowing he was about to be devirtualized, took a leap of faith. The Creepers fired, each laser making contact with his body. Just as his hand was about to be devirtualized, he hit the switch. A mist of digital code subdued his form as he vanished.

Jeremy wiped the sweat from his brow, "Great job, Odd."

Odd voice erupted from the Scanner Room, "Thanks, Einstein!"

"Alright, get Aelita to the mainframe so she can acquire the intel we need." A big check mark appeared on his screen, signaling that the scan of Elise's structure was complete, "Elise, it seems as if you do have a long range weapon. Apparently, you're capable of Pyrokinesis."

"Aye aye, Captain! Hey, now maybe Elise can give me a nice back massage with that heat, eh?" Ulrich saluted, making Aelita giggle. He led the three girls to the elevator. He saw it coming, and jumped on, followed by the girls. Elise had a hard time maintaining her balance, but did well for her first time. The elevator came to a stop, and Ulrich ushered Aelita to the mainframe.

"You're mainframe awaits, Princess." He bowed in the process. Aelita laughed and strode to the mainframe. Elise watched her, intrigued at how she handled the mainframe so easily.

Aelita spoke, "Okay Jeremy, I'm sending the data over to you." She swiped her hand over the mainframe, making it disappear.

Ulrich unsheathed his katana, "Why can't Xana ever give us a break?" He said as he pointed to a Flying Manta with his free hand.

"I'm sending your vehicles and opening the tunnel. Hopefully you won't have to actually fight them." He paused, "Odd, will you please stop breathing down my neck."

Odd's voice was heard, "Sorry, Einstein, I want to get a good look at Ulrich before he gets his butt kicked by Evette!"

Ulrich scowled at the air, "Odd, cut it out with the Manta names, will you? At least give them good names!"

Elise, despite being in danger by flying sea creatures, chuckled at their childlike attitude. Jeremy virtualized their vehicles, and they were off. Aelita rode with Ulrich, and Elise with Yumi. After narrowly missing a conflict with the Mantas, they sped through a tunnel and into the desert sector. Without warning, they were all devirtualized by Jeremy.

**-COTD-**

Elise woozily fell out of the scanner, only to be caught by Yumi and Aelita, "Welcome to Earth!"

Elise gave a tired smirk and stood on her own. She found that she was completely drained, but did her best to play it off. She followed the others into the elevator and met up with Jeremy on the floor above.

Odd was standing beside Jeremy, and Jeremy had an annoyed look on his face. Odd, however, did not seem to notice it and kept asking Jeremy numerous questions.

"So, why don't you ever go to Lyoko?" Odd asked, eager to hear a response.

Jeremy rolled his eyes, but answered anyway, "Because someone has to stay here, and no one else but Aelita knows how to use the Super Computer."

"I think it's because you're chicken." He began to playfully hop around the room using his arms as chicken wings, "Bock bock bock BoCOCK!"

Aelita eyed him warily as the elevator doors opened, revealing Odd dancing around and Jeremy looking infuriated. She couldn't help but laugh at the scene. She missed the old times, back when they would do this every day.

"So, Jeremy, have you been able to decode the information I sent you?" she asked. For some reason, Xana always locked his files with a series of difficult code sequences.

He pointed at Odd, "I haven't been able to even start with this…cat…around." He chose his words carefully.

"Okay, I understand. We'll leave so you can get some work done, okay?" he thanked her and watched as Aelita swiftly grabbed Odd's arm, forcing him into the elevator.

**And that's the end of this chapter! I hope you guys liked it, and again, I'm sorry it took so dreadfully long to get this chapter out xD **


	11. Bowing is Always Respecful

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. I just replace Jim's Band-aid during his sleep.**

* * *

**Basically, it has come to my attention that this story was lacking a much needed aspect; FLUFF! So, that's all that this chapter is. Oh, and I didn't re-read the last little section, so have fun trying to decipher that if I messed up xD Happy reading!**

**Bowing is Always ****Respectful:**

A week had passed since the gang retrieved the information about the plague. Even through full days and restless nights, Jeremy had only scratched the surface. What little data he had decoded was almost useless, if not completely. Alas, the blonde genius did not stop working, much to his friends' discouragement. As much as he would love to take a break, he realized that Xana, however, did not take breaks, or sleep…or ever stop working. He was a computer program, and Jeremy was just one human. Although his mind was capable, it was somewhat novice compared to Xana.

Engulfed in his work, he was unaware that a certain girl had descended down the elevator in search for her blonde counterpart.

"I knew I would find you here." She said as she strode to the computer chair. Jeremy, unfortunately, had not expected anyone to come see him, and was startled to say the least. His body rose from the seat a tad before his nerves calmed himself.

"Oh, hi Aelita. You scared me." He took his eyes away from the computer screen to look at her. His eyes were droopy, and there were bags underneath them. If one would look closely, they would realize that even his bags had bags.

"Jeremy, you've worked nonstop for the last week. You need some rest." Aelita gently lied her hand on his shoulder, "Come on; I'm not letting you work yourself to death like last time."

A small smirk found its way to his face as he realized what she was implying. The materialization program he had spent countless nights on took a toll on him, and he had looked much like he did now. He reluctantly nodded his head and took Aelita's hand as she led him to the elevator.

**-COTD-**

Odd looked wearily around at his surroundings. He had scouted every inch of the factory and had finally found the remnants of some carpet and dozens of cardboard boxes. He had strategically taped them around the walls of the square room right next to the cooler room. If there was one thing he had learned during his music lessons, it was how to soundproof a room. He taped the carpet against the wall first, and then taped the boxes on top.

With a loud creek, the metal door opened behind him, "What's all this for?" Elise had been aimlessly wondering around and happened to stumble upon the blonde boy.

"I'm sound proofing this room. I packed my guitars and my amp when we came, and I really want to play, but I don't want it to attract the Infected. Therefore, I've made a makeshift studio!"

"You're focusing on music in a time like this?" the blonde girl raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah! You can't ever go wrong with music!"

"Whatever you say." Elise stepped inside and shut the door behind her. She marveled at the massive amounts of tape that Odd had used to secure the structure to the wall. He was obviously not too good at wrapping Christmas presents.

"I used to take guitar lessons, and my teacher had his studio soundproofed with some insolation and a bunch of blankets. It's not as good as it could be, but I think it will muffle out most of the sound." Odd finished taping the last box to the wall and turned to Elise with a huge smile on his face, "Hey, you want to help me test it?"

"I'd love to, but shouldn't you be resting? From what I've been told, you were bit by a _zombie_."

"Eh, I heal fast." Odd gave her a thumbs up.

"Whatever, bro. So do you want me to just stand outside or something?"

"Yeah, actually. Just close the door behind you while I play, then come back in after I stop and tell me. If you can hear it, that is."

Elise did as she was told, shutting the door behind her and waiting for the strumming of a guitar.

Odd dug through the pile of cords he had brought with him and plugged one end into his amp, the other into his guitar. He strummed once to get a feel of his guitar and was surprised to see that it was still in tune. He played a makeshift riff inspired from 'Carol of the Bells' a couple of times and sat his guitar back down, waiting for Elise to reenter.

As was expected, Elise's petite figure appeared through the door, "You can just barely hear it, but that's only if you're standing right next to the door. Nice riff, by the way."

Odd's eyebrows raised slightly, "I suppose it works better than expected, huh?" he laughed, "And thanks. It's something I just made up in my spare time. So…judging that you knew the name, I suppose you play?"

"I'm alright, but I'm not _that _good."

Odd blushed, "Eh, it just comes with practice." He flustered, unsure of what to say next.

Elise shuffled her feat, thinking of something to say, "So, why exactly are you focusing on music in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?"

"That depends. Can you keep a secret?" Odd raised his left eyebrow.

"Spit it out, will ya?"

"Fine, fine. I promised Aelita I'd write a song for her, so that's what I'm in the process of doing. I've already got the lyrics done, now all I have to do is add guitar too it. Acoustic guitar, preferably." Odd gave a half smirk.

Elise smiled, as well, "Let me guess. She and Jeremy are together, but you secretly love her?"

Odd raised his finger to protest, but instead let it drop back down, "You win this round…I'm sorry, what's your last name?"

She rolled her eyes, "Blanchette."

Odd raised his finger her, "You win this round, Blanchette!" Elise couldn't help but giggle slightly. Odd's jokes were, for the most part, sporadic and pointless. His facial expressions are what make him funny. That, and the ridiculous purple splotch in the center of his hair, which is spiked up at least a foot high.

"And there will be plenty more where that came from, Mr…" she waved her hands slightly, indicated that she was unsure of his name.

"Della Robbia. Odd Della Robbia."

"Oh, that's right! Such an odd name…no pun intended." She slowly walked to the metal door and opened it, "I'll see you around, Della Robbia." Odd gave her a nod with a smile before she shut the door.

**-COTD-**

During his alone time, Ulrich often enjoyed meditating to help clear his mind. He wasn't exactly what someone would call 'spiritual', but he did have a spiritual side somewhere inside him. He was sitting in a meditative stance in the center of the bridge that connected the Factory with the mainland, slightly humming the tune to a slow, melodic symphony. Most would complain that making a sound while meditating would be distracting, but, to Ulrich, it seemed more soothing. He had always had ADD and absolutely could not stand to just _sit_.

It was the first time he had experienced bliss in almost a week. He let his thoughts drift to the time before the attack. Before the Infected walked the streets of France. Before food and ammo was a constant concern. Back when everything was starting to look up for them. Although Xana appeared to be getting stronger, he had worked out his relationship tension with Yumi and he and his father had finally begun to get along.

_Ulrich was sitting in his and Odd's dorm room when a loud ringing erupted from his bedside. He groaned when he read the contact name. Dreadfully, he pressed the 'answer' button._

"_Hello?"_

"_Hello, son."_

"_Is there a reason you called? I'm kind of in the middle of studying."_

"_I wouldn't doubt it for a second. You're grades have shot up recently."_

_Ulrich's face lightened, "Really?"_

"_Yes. That's why I called; to congratulate you for your hard work."_

"_Oh…well, thanks dad." He was baffled. Had Jeremy's lessons really made that much of a difference?_

_There was a brief silence, before a deep voice broke it, "Okay, son, I'll let you get back to studying. Call us more often, okay?"_

"_Alright, dad, I will."_

"_Goodbye son. I love you."_

"…_I love you too, dad."_

It was the first and only time he could remember his father telling him he loved him. He always knew that he did, but never expected him to say it out loud. It was shameful that he would be unable to keep his promise. He wanted to call them so terribly bad, but he didn't want to face the cruel fact that they we're more than likely dead, or worse. Besides, it was unlikely that there was any power left to support the cell towers, anyway.

"I knew I'd find you here." Yumi's voice echoed through his ears, interrupting his thoughts. He stood from his meditative position and bowed to her. He always tried his hardest to keep to Japanese rituals when in Yumi's presence. It seemed to make her feel more at home.

She bowed in response, "Respect is important, but how about a hug?" she smiled at him, and he let his signature half-smirk appear on his lips. They stepped in each other's direction, engulfing each other in a warm embrace.

Yumi spoke from within the crook of his neck, "I haven't hugged you like this in ages."

Ulrich smiled and ran his fingers through her hair, "It's been far too long."

They continued to stand together, not uttering another word. Occasionally, Ulrich would gently rub her back, and she would try desperately to get closer to him. Ulrich pulled away slightly and raised his fingers to Yumi's chin, pulling her gaze to meet his own. She obliged, feeling her nose gently brush across his. A deep shade of crimson arose from their cheeks as they both leaned forward, allowing instinct to take over. Yumi grasped the back of his neck, pulling him towards her. Their lips collided and fireworks took off in their chests as their blushes deepened. Ulrich wrapped his arms around her waist, longing for her to be as close as she could to him. Yumi was the first to pull away, due to a loss of breath. She sighed and leaned her forehead against Ulrich's, getting lost in his caramel eyes.

Ulrich was the first to speak, "You have no idea how long I've waited to do that."

She blushed yet again, "It's mutual…"

Ulrich turned and gazed to the horizon, "The sunset is beautiful tonight, huh?"

"Despite the situation, yes, it most certainly is." Yumi rested her head on Ulrich's shoulder, allowing herself to drift into a state of serenity, "You see that cloud? It looks kind of like a rabbit, doesn't it?"

Ulrich chuckled and looked in the direction she was gazing, "Yeah…yeah it kind of does."

**-COTD-**

Night hurriedly fell upon the factory. Yumi and Ulrich watched the sunset until all that remained were faint streaks of sunlight blazing through the sky, continuing to get dimmer and dimmer. They walked into the bedchamber, suddenly becoming aware that Elise and Jeremy were already sound asleep in their respective bunks.

Yumi whispered, "It must be hard for her…"

"What do you mean? 'Just as hard for the rest of us."

"Well think about it, Ulrich. Unlike us, she had no idea Lyoko existed, and now she's fighting for her life every day."

Ulrich gazed at Elise's sleeping form, "Yeah, I guess. She doesn't seem to be upset about it though."

"She's taken it rather well, I'll agree." Yumi sighed, taking a last look at Elise, "Do you have any idea where Odd and Aelita are?"

Elise abruptly rose from under her covers, "Thanks for the concern, but will you please _shut up_? Odd's downstairs practicing guitar and Aelita is with him. Happy?" she let out an exasperated huff and plopped back into her sleeping position.

Yumi and Ulrich were taken back by the blonde's sudden outrage, "Um…goodnight, Yumi." And with that, he covered himself with his blankets.

Meanwhile, Aelita journeyed down the hall next to the cooler room, just as Elise had told her. Elise had, rather strategically, left out the part about Odd practicing because of _her_. As she cracked the door open, she could hear Odd playing an acoustic guitar and lightly singing. She was tempted to stop and listen, but didn't want her conscious to consider her an eavesdropper. She opened the door wider, revealing Odd sitting/leaning against a wooden stool with his guitar in hand.

His strumming came to a halt, "Hi."

"Hi! Elise told me you were down here all alone, so I figured you might want some company."

Odd smiled, "Actually, I'm glad you're here, Princess. I was, for once, beginning to get lonely."

"I live to please!" Aelita laughed, "So Elise told me you've been down here all day. What have you been doing down here?"

Odd laughed, "You tell me! I promised you a song, and you're going to get it."

Aelita's eyes widened slightly, "Wait, you were completely serious about that? Odd, you don't have to do that for me!"

"Well hey, it's more fun that watching Ulrich and Yumi make out, right?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "You're saying you've watched them kiss before?"

"Ulrich and I _did _share the same room, you know. Believe it or not, Yumi can get freaky." He shuddered at the thought of that day. That horrible, horrible day.

"Freaky, how?" Aelita's face slightly contorted.

Odd laid his guitar on the floor and stood to stretch, "You mean you've never gotten a little wild with Jeremy?"

Aelita blushed, "Odd, please try to choose better words!"

"My bad, Princess. You and Jeremy have never _experimented _before?" Odd smirked, sending uncomfortable chills down Aelita's spine.

"That wasn't much better, Odd." She rolled her eyes to hide her discomfort, "But, n-no, we've never done much."

"And by much, you mean…?" Odd waved his hand around, gesturing for her to continue.

"T-That's none of your business!" she looked down at the floor nervously.

"You two have never even made out, have you? From Jeremy, I can understand, but _you_? I figured you would've broken through that by now."

"We're just taking it slow, is all."

Odd stepped closer to Aelita, "Pff, that's what they all say. You and I both know that you guys are just **chicken**."

Aelita scowled at him, "I am not!"

"Fine, then prove it." He smirked at her mischievously.

"How?"

"Kiss me. I'll bet you a laser arrow to the chest you won't do it."

Aelita flustered. However, she had never been one to turn down a bet, "You're on!" Without thinking she strode to his position, taking the back of his head in her hands. Abruptly, she pulled his down to meet hers, planting a firm kiss on his lips. Odd hesitated for a split second before his hormones got the better of him, and he kissed her back, allowing his arms to wrap around her waist. She was shocked at his actions, but allowed him to continue nonetheless.

Aelita pulled he head back with a mad blush on her face, "I believe I won." _What am I thinking? I can't kiss _Odd_! But he's just so likable!_

Odd sputtered for a second, "I…uh…um." He paused to compose himself, "I mean, uh…yeah! Yeah, I suppose you did." _Wow. I haven't had a kiss like _that _in a long time. Is it just me, or were there sparks behind that?_

Aelita looked down, realizing that her body was still firmly attached to his. Forcefully, she moved away from the blonde boy, "For now on, what happens in the soundproof room, stays in the soundproof room. Alright?" She couldn't stand the thought of Jeremy finding out.

"Deal, but there's no way I'm shooting myself with a laser arrow." Odd smirked, shoving the embarrassing feeling away from the pinkette.

"Don't worry, I'll hit you with an energy field when you least expect it." She winked at him, bringing an entertaining mood to the room

"Whatever, Princess. Just to be clear, that kiss didn't mean anything, did it?" _Please let her say it did._

"What? N-No, of course not!" she nervously rubbed the back of her head.

Odd pretended to play along with her charade, "Good."

"Yeah…" she shuffled her feet around nervously, "I um…I'm going to get some sleep. Come up whenever you want."

"Alright, Princess." And with that, Odd turned to gather his guitar, and Aelita left the room. Aelita lightly shut the door behind her.

"So what was _that_ all about, huh?" Aelita jumped as a familiar face stood in front of her. Her eyes bulged and she jumped slightly, knowing what was in store for her.

**Ok, that's it. I'm leaving you with a cliffhanger, simply because I need some time to gather thoughts and whatnot XD Review and shtuff, thanks. And once again, I need some reading material! Anything Mako/Korra, Bolin/Korra, or Odd/Aelita will do! Thanks! :D**


	12. Jeremy, We Have A Problem

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. I just replace the gang's skateboards when they get rusty.**

**Okay, so I'm back and better than ever! My goal for this chapter is 4000 words, but I doubt it will even reach 3. xD**

**-After a bit of searching, I've discovered that there is a new 'Gaming' section on the official Code Lyoko website. When selected, a window shows the words 'Coming Soon'. Maybe they will make a console game or two?**

**-The Code Lyoko Facebook game is, believe it or not, really good. You guys should go check it out when you have a chance.**

"So what was that all about, huh?" Aelita jumped as a familiar face stood in front of her. Her eyes bulged and she jumped slightly, knowing what was in store.

"U-Ulrich! What um…what do you mean?"

Ulrich scrunched his eyebrows, "You know exactly what I mean."

Aelita let out an exasperated huff, "Fine. What do you want?"

"What's with the hostility, huh? It's like you expect me not accept this."

Aelita's face contorted with a confused look, "Whatever do you mean, Ulrich? You think that I like him?!"

Ulrich's face lightened, "I don't think; I know. Otherwise, you wouldn't be looking at your feet to hide a blush, and you wouldn't have your fingers entwined together."

Aelita looked up to him with an uneasy look in her eye, "N-no! Ulrich, you and I both know that there is nothing going on between Odd and I. I happen to have a significant other, who doesn't happen to be Odd, but Jeremy. Therefore, Odd and I have nothing but friendship!"

Ulrich raised an eyebrow, "Whatever, Princess. Deny it all you want, but I saw what went on in there." Aelita started to speak, but was cut off as Ulrich placed a finger over her lips, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Pfft, boys are so stupid…" Aelita mumbled, expecting Ulrich to have already stopped listening to her as he strode back to the barracks.

"I heard that." He turned to wink at her, "In case you forgot, I happen to be a master in Pencak Silat. I'm not exactly 'inattentive'."

Aelita smiled, "I'd like to hear you spell 'inattentive'."

"Sorry, Princess, I've got brawn not brain!" and with that, he sped down the hall.

"I'm gonna get you!" she laughed and chased after him. As she turned around the corner, the faint sound of a metal door clicking into place became inaudible.

**-COTD-**

_Friday Morning; 7:23 AM._

***Beep beep beep beep***

Odd sleepily rolled over in his bunk, "No, no, no, no, NO! Please don't tell me there's an activated Tower!"

Jeremy wiped his eyes before placing his glasses on his ears and retrieving his laptop, "Yep; activated Tower in the Forest Region."

Elise stumbled from her mattress, "This better not be an everyday occurrence..." She wiped a oily strand of hair from her face.

Aelita slid on her boots and stood, "Come on, we don't have any time to lose. If we're lucky, Xana won't have time to attack."

Ulrich laughed, which was rare during an attack, "Right. That only happens once in a blue moon." He was correct, as it had only happened once before.

"I can dream can't I?"

Odd laughed, "Not unless you want to turn out like Martin Luther King Jr.!" Jeremy lowered his eyebrows as Yumi shook her head in disappointment.

Yumi placed a hand on his shoulder, "After this is over, I'll explain everything that was wrong with that statement." She removed her hand and followed the others to the elevator.

Jeremy stepped out at the computer room, "Go ahead and go down there, and I'll start the virtualization process."

Elise nodded, "Aye aye, Captain."

Odd stepped out of the elevator first, bowing and waving his arms towards the scanners, "Ladies first."

Aelita frowned, "You're _such _a gentleman."

"I know, I know. Odd the Magnificent is many things!"

Yumi scoffed, "Like what; a slob? Or a walking toxic waste dump?" She mumbled a few other unnecessary words, although she was muffled out by the scanner doors.

"Transfer: Yumi. Transfer: Aelita. Transfer: Elise. Scanner and Virtualization!"

The three girls fell to the ground and looked at their surroundings. Aelita and Yumi were rather indifferent about it, but Elise found it spectacular. A series of slender tubes resembling trees spurted from the ground, reaching higher than she could possibly imagine.

"Wow, this is so neat! It looks as if those trees never stop!"

Aelita nonchalantly spoke to her, "They don't."

"Oh…" she continued to stare up at them, hoping that the pinkette was incorrect. Unfortunately, her view was cut off by a purple blob toppling on top of her.

"Oops. Sorry Elise! I can't exactly control wear I land."

Elise shook her fist in his face, "You're lucky you can't feel pain on Lyoko."

Jeremy huffed at their childishness, "Alright, that's enough. There's a path to your left that leads straight to the tower. I'll virtualize your vehicles for you. Let's hope Xana doesn't have anything too over the top in store for you."

The Overbike, Overwing, and Overboard appeared before them, respectively.

"Well Aelita, would like to accompany me on my humble…board?" Aelita smirked, latching onto Odd's small frame.

Ulrich patted the space behind him, "Elise, you can ride with me. But be warned, Odd and I like to have races." Elise smiled happily and hopped on the seat.

"Don't worry; I've always been a thrill-seeker!" Ulrich showed his signature smirk and sped off, leaving Odd, Aelita, and Yumi in the dust. Elise screaked with excitement.

Odd glared at his tracks, "Oh no you don't!" And with that, he sped off at an even faster speed, causing Aelita to clutch onto his suit for fear of her life. Yumi followed close behind, deciding not to take part in their childish games.

Jeremy's voice soon hailed from above, "Alright, you've got four Bloks blocking the passage, if you understand what I mean."

Odd laughed, "See, Yumi? Even Jeremy has a sense of humor!" Noticing Ulrich's glare, he quickly quieted himself, "We'll just go over here." And with that, he and Aelita were off onto a separate path.

"Good idea, Odd. You and Aelita use a flank while the others go head on." Jeremy said.

Ulrich unsheathed his katana, "Elise, jump off!" She did as she was told and rolled to a nearby rock. Ulrich leapt from the Overbike, allowing it to plow into one of the Bloks. A large beam of energy shot through the sky as it fell into the Digital Sea.

"I'm gonna knock your block off, Blok-head! Triplicate!" Two Ulrich-clones extracted from his body, "Triangulate!" The helpless Blok dazed back and forth, searching for the correct Ulrich. Fortunately, it failed miserably. The real Ulrich lunged forward, slashing the Blok in half. The top half of the Blok slid off as the legs and bottom half exploded.

Odd then swooped in, "Hang on, Princess!" She gripped his waist tighter as he dove straight down onto the third Blok. It fired a laser in his direction, having it hit his tail.

"Ow! Why you little…!" He continued to dive until he was face to face with the monster, "Laser Arrow!" Aelita shielded her face with her arms as it exploded.

Yumi and Elise, however, weren't having as good of luck as the others.

"Elise, you're down to forty life points! Use them wisely…" Jeremy nervously nibbled on his nails, "Whoa!" he watched as Yumi's ID card vanished from the screen. As the scanner opened, Yumi pounded her fist against the metallic casing.

Back on Lyoko, Ulrich and Odd had swooped in, destroying the monster instantaneously.

Jeremy pumped his fist in the air, "Yeah! Alright Aelita, now it's your turn."

Aelita grinned, running towards the Tower in full sprint. She stopped just short of the Tower and allowed herself to gently float through. Aelita's form, however, refused to engage the Tower.

"Um, Jeremy…we have a problem." Aelita exhaled nervously, "The Tower doesn't seem to recognize me."

Odd walked next to Aelita and knocked against the Tower's frame, "Hello? Anyone in there?"

Jeremy rubbed his temples, "Oh, no. This was Xana's attack! He's probably modified the virus he implanted inside you."

Elise raised her finger up as an idea coursed through her thoughts, "What if we go to Sector Five? I'm sure there's something on the mainframe we can use. You _did _say that everything Xana thinks is stored there, right?"

Jeremy sighed, "Yes, but that's literally thousands of terabytes of memory. And besides, that's probably just what Xana wants us to do. There is more than likely a trap set up in Carthage."

Odd spoke, "What if you developed a kind of search engine, like Google? Then we could just search for what we need!"

Yumi rolled her eyes and spoke loud enough for the others to hear, "Odd, did you take your pills this morning?"

"No, he might actually be onto something." Jeremy began to type rapidly, "Yes…that might just be crazy enough to work! Odd, you're a genius!"

Odd performed a backflip in joy, "Well, you know, the Magical Odd Effect just sparks in sometimes."

Ulrich laughed, "Alright, 'Magic Odd Effect', let's get to Sector Five before your ego causes an explosion."

Jeremy nodded, "Okay, go to the edge of the sector and I'll type in the code, Scipio. Wait for Yumi, though. I'm sending her back in."

**-COTD-**

Odd teetered back and forth, "Ugh, I feel like I'm gonna throw up."

Ulrich elbowed his ribs, causing him to gag, "Ha. Good thing you can't do that on Lyoko, good buddy."

Odd regained himself, although his complexion seemed a light shade of green, "Why I ought'a…"

Ulrich laughed at his friend, "Come on, we don't have time for games." And with that, he sped off through the now opened corridor.

"Wow, I could've swore this place was a lot different last time I was here…" Elise mumbled. The room was wide with bottomless pits on either side. One narrow strip went through the middle of the room.

Odd groaned, "Well, who's up for a tightrope, huh?"

Yumi stepped forward, placing her right foot on the platform, "I'll go first." Being the gymnast that she was, it took her only a minute to pass through. She almost lost her balance once, though.

"Top that, Odd!" She shouted from the other side.

"Gladly!" Odd unwittingly jumped onto the platform. Although he acted extremely reckless, he skillfully kept his balance all the way to the end; performing various parkour actions along the way.

Yumi squinted her eyes together, "Remind me to slug you when we get back to Earth, okay?"

Odd gave her a thumbs up and a goofy smile, "Sure thing, Yumi!" he turned towards the others, "Alright Ulrich, it's your turn!"

Instead of walking the tightrope, he took a different approach, "Super Sprint!" Ulrich lunged his body forward, clearing the entire gap and landing next to Yumi.

"Was'sup, gurl?" he pointed finger guns at her and grinned. Yumi grinned and shoved him a little.

Elise was up next. Fortunately for her, she had extensive training in the art of Ba Gua martial arts. Her balancing skills were remarkable, to say the least.

Odd grinned, "You're a typical Mary-Sue, aren't you?"

"Last I checked, my name was Elise Blanchette; not Mary-Sue." She turned her head back to Aelita, "Alright, it's your turn!"

Aelita faced the platform with a nervous look, "Unlike you guys, I'm not what one would call 'flexible'."

Odd laughed, "Yeah, Princess, we know that you're about as flexible as a Blok!" Aelita gave him a furious look, "What? I'll come get you if you want!" he gave her a wink.

"I'll show you!" she carefully placed her feet on the platform, one in front of the other. She spread her arms out to help balance herself, although she still teetered every now and again.

As she approached the edge, Odd grabbed her and pulled her towards stable ground, "I take it back. You're about as flexible as Tarantula!"

Aelita grasped his neck, "You're so lucky we don't breath on Lyoko. Now come on, you dolt."

Odd placed a hand on his neck with a dazed look on his face as he turned to Ulrich, "Was it something I said?" Ulrich shrugged his shoulder, even though he knew perfectly well why she seemed so angry.

"Alright, enough horsing around. If you haven't forgotten, we've still got a Tower to deactivate. Now move it, before I have to force you." Jeremy ordered.

"Pushy…" Elise inaudibly mumbled. She curiously followed the others back to the same spot she had been before. This time, she expected the elevator to come and reacted accordingly. She jumped at the right time, although she still remained puzzled at how the elevator would move upside down without them falling off.

Aelita pointed to a large corridor, "Let's hope the Flying Manta's don't come too soon." She dashed for the open mainframe.

Jeremy huffed with anxiety, "I don't see any on my screen, but I've been wrong before…" A large exclamation mark appeared on his screen, "Oh no…remember those repairs that we did earlier that I said were only temporary? Yeah…they just gave out, so I'm going to go try to jury-rig it."

"Okay. We'll get all of the information we can while you're gone." Aelita said as she moved her hands around the mainframe.

Ulrich and Odd stood at the entrance to the mainframe, waiting for a tray Creeper to find its way to them. Yumi and Elise were on either side of Aelita, watching for Mantas to hatch.

"Do you have any idea why Aelita nearly killed me back there?" Odd quietly asked. Ulrich didn't face him when he answered his question as not to arouse suspicion from the girls.

"Well, that make-out session last night probably isn't helping much."

Odd gasped, "How do you know about that?"

"I just happened to be strolling by." Ulrich glanced behind him to check on the girls. Seeing that there was no immediate danger, he continued his conversation, "But that's not the point."

"It wasn't a 'make-out session'; it was just one simple kiss. And according to her, it didn't mean anything. It was just a bet, and that's all!" Unfortunately for Odd, Yumi had heard his last sentence. She strode over to the two boys, placing a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"What was just a bet, Odd?"

Odd looked to her and gulped, "Uh, nothing! Just, um, a bet between Ulrich and me on how many monsters we could destroy!" He rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. Yumi, however, was clearly not buying it. She leaned in closer to him, causing Odd to nearly fall backwards. Ulrich simply watched with interest.

"I'm going to ask you one more time, Odd-ball. What was just a bet?" Odd realized he had no way out of this. Yumi was, clearly, not very easily persuaded.

"Ok, ok, fine!" he lowered his voice to a whisper, "I betted Aelita that she wouldn't kiss me, and she did it."

Yumi was furious. Over the years, she had grown to be very protective of Aelita. She would always offer to go to Lyoko with her, and was always willing to miss a class just to help her in any way she could.

"You _**what**_?! I can't believe you would do something like that! You're such a pig!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Odd spotted a Creeper charging its laser directly at Yumi, "Yumi, behind you!"

"What?" she turned, only to be blasted and devirtualized. Ulrich sparked into action, quickly propelling his saber into the Creeper's eye.

Odd shrugged when Ulrich gave him a stink look, "Well, I tried to warn her."

Jeremy's voice hurled from the void, "Aelita, get out of there!" Aelita was frantically dodging lasers left and right as Elise used Pyrokinesis against the Mantas that had hatched.

"Just another minute or two, Jeremy! I've almost retrieved the information that we need." She bit her bottom lip in frustration as she selected the wrong databank, "Make that five minutes…"

"Ow! I thought you said we couldn't feel pain on Lyoko!" Elise screamed as her shoulder was blasted by a Manta.

Ulrich huffed as his saber stabbed through the last remaining Creeper, "You can definitely feel a laser! They hurt worse than Odd's socks!"

"Shut up, Ul-, OW!" Odd was cut off as he was sprayed down by three Mantas. The scanner doors opened, revealing the blonde leaning against the casing, "Evette, Ethel, and Charlie never have any manners…"

"Fire Darts!" Elise yelled. A barrage of homing darts erupted from her palm, taking out the three Mantas that were remaining.

"Okay, Jeremy, I'm sending the data over to you." Aelita swiped her hand over the mainframe, making it disappear. She turned, realizing only Elise and Ulrich were left, "Hey, where'd everybody disappear to?"

Odd voice erupted from above, "Evette, Ethel, and Charlie were being rude, as usual!" Yumi shook her head in disbelief.

"Odd, seriously, cut it out with the names. Pretty please?" Ulrich said.

"No!"

Jeremy proceeded to shove Odd out of his breathing space, "I'm sending your vehicles. Hopefully the Tower won't be guarded." To their surprise, the Tower stood solemnly. There wasn't a monster in sight.

"Maybe Xana decided to take a little nap?" Odd laughed.

Ulrich glared at the space in front of him, "Yeah, or maybe he's so happy you got devirtualized that he's letting us win!"

Jeremy smiled, "Well, guys, mission accomplished. I'll bring you guys in. Aelita, you get to a Way Tower and I'll rematerialize you."

**That's a wrap! It took me way longer to complete this than I expected. Alas, school has officially started, and being a Junior is not all fun and games. Of course, vowing to keep a 95 average doesn't help the matter xD **

**So, just be aware that chapters will be released MUCH SLOWER if at all D:**


	13. As Long as Everything Worked

**Wow. Long time, no see, huh? Yes, I'm back, but it probably won't be for good. Like I said before, I'll still be publishing new chapters every now and again, but it won'tbe a regular occurrence like it once was.**

**This chapter, however, isn't very eventful and is very short. It's more or less a filler for what's to come in the next chapter, which may or may not actually be released before Christmas xD**

**-An English Version of Code Lyoko: Evolution has been confirmed, along with a trailer on Youtube to prove it. I finally got to see their faces :3 Odd is a little young though… **

Three months had passed since the day Xana had unleashed his bacteria. The Lyoko Warriors, however, were no closer to solving the vast encryption that protected his diabolical program. Jeremie had given up countless nights in order to work, but it always ended the same way. Trail-and-Error was all he had left, but that could take years. There were several thousands of codes to crack, and he hadn't even gotten past one-hundred.

The group was losing the one thing that had kept them together for so long: hope. The effects were evident as it left the friends in a state of confusion and frustration. As the weather became cold, so did their attitudes. Even Odd, who was normally rambunctious and low-tempered, became a shell of what he once was. Although he never lashed out at anyone, often times he would become furious and reside in the soundproof room for hours. Alas, he wasn't particularly angry with anyone; he was simply angry with himself.

During his time in solitude, however, he worked productively. Although music was, more or less, the last thing on the rest of the gang's mind, Odd seemed to place it as a high priority. Even before the apocalypse, music was what kept him from becoming angry. It was what made him so happy, so ecstatic. He was limited, but he could still cope.

Ulrich also had his way of counteracting the depression that was sure to overcome them. Every day, he would position himself at the center of the bridge leading into town, humming a slight tune to himself. Often, Yumi would join him, just to keep him company. Yumi, however, hadn't been acting the same for a while now. Why: she wouldn't tell, although, she seemed to be having minor symptoms of what Jeremy liked to call 'panphobia', the fear of everything. Often, she would retreat to her bunk to simply lie there, staring at the ceiling in frustrated concentration. When one would approach her, she seemed as if she were terrified of nothing. Quite literally, her body would tremble in fear for no apparent reason. Jeremy seemed to think nothing of it, given the situation around them.

Elise had a rather…cynical side to her. Instead of complaining about oily hair or worrying about her family, she would stand guard at the edge of the bridge, killing any Infected that happened to wander by. As time passed, she found various nick-knacks hidden on their skin and in their pants pockets. In total, she had found a golden watch, a silver necklace with some sort of purple gem inside it, 400 euros, an empty syringe, and 60 driver's licenses. At first, she didn't care about whom the Infected once were, or who their families were, but after she witnessed Ulrich read a man's license, she changed her ways. Now, after every Infected she kills, she takes their wallet and reads their ID, just so someone can remember them.

Aelita spends her time equally. Sometimes, she'll help Jeremie or entertain Yumi or meditate with Ulrich or even stand guard with Elise, even though she couldn't stand the thought of killing what was once a living person. She always held closely the idea that she needed to please everyone, or at least contribute to everyone's life, and it would take more than the apocalypse to stop her from achieving that goal. Although, she recently made it a habit to leave Odd out of her daily routine. Every day, she would notice him retreating to his own little plain of Oblivion, and her heart would beckon for her to follow, to go with him, where no one could hear them or bother them. Alas, she knew her decision was for the best, and would allow him his loneliness. She was confused about their relationship. After that day over two months ago, she would find herself questioning her love for Jeremie as she felt her soul tug towards Odd. 'Jeremie was her savior, her redeemer, her salvation. Odd was a skater punk who got around to all the girls at least once.' That was the lie she would tell herself every morning, just as long as it worked.

Just as long as everything worked.


End file.
